#is everyone's reference folder cursed or is it just me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

xandriagreat · 2 years

Text

“Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” “Still just… sitting on this couch...”

Author’s note: This is for @anotsomysticalnight (also beta read by me 😎 -Myst). To make sure that no one is confused with the past characters and the ones in the video, the video will refer to them by their names while their past versions are called their functions. Example: Past!Patton is Morality, and Past!Roman is Princey/Creativity.

Notice/warnings: Coma mentioned, Crying, Wine, censored cursing (because there’s cursing in the video), caps, Remus being Remus, Remus is a rat man, Janus is a sass queen, Virgil is a mood, and Thomas is a hot mess

▪▪▪

Thomas was up late, as was quickly becoming his usual, working on 'Taking on Anxiety with Lily Singh', the newest addition to the Sander Sides series he hoped would do well.

After Thomas saved his progress, he sent a quick message to Joan about finishing his part of the editing, and exited out of the software so he could, finally, rest for the day. He was about to close his file explorer, he noticed a new video saved in the drafts.

"What’s this? 'Have I Grown? - Five Years Later | A Sander Sides Special'… What?" Thomas exclaimed in confusion. His habit of talking aloud to himself persisted.

He... doesn't remember recording anything about a five year anniversary of the Sanders Sides series... because it only started a mere few months ago...

After a moment in which he sat, baffled beyond belief, he summoned Logic, Morality, and Princey to his side.

"Hey guys." He greeted the three, who were all looking concerned at the summoning.

"What's wrong? Where’s the danger?” Princey demanded, brandishing his samurai sword in determination. Thomas was going to ask why Princey has a samurai sword when he saw it but maybe now wasn’t the time.

Instead he swivelled the laptop towards them, giving them a chance to look at his folders. "Oh! Maybe it's an opportunity for an audition!" Princey exclaimed, already posing as though he was being photographed for a magazine.

"Or maybe it's an invitation-" Logic and Morality began, the chaotic excitement building before it was, of course, interrupted by Anxiety, who shot up behind them all with a loud voice echoing off the walls of Thomas’s living room.

"What if we're HACKED?!”

All four screamed at the intense cry. "Oh… Anxiety… It's you." Thomas said, frowning at the dark clad side that just disrupted his, relatively, peaceful day.

"What? I got a feeling of… anxiousness here. Decided to pop in, see what’s up, y’know?"

“No, I don’t know!” Princey squawked at him. “Why don’t you go grow mushrooms in some corner somewhere, huh, you no-fungus?”

“Nah. I'm good right now.”

Thomas sighed in defeat, resigned. “He can stay…”

“I’m sorry, what?!” Anxiety and Princey chorused. Logic looked at Thomas thoughtfully while Morality clapped excitedly at this development.

“He's going to stay for this and no one’s going to complain about it, alright?” Thomas shot a warning look that broke no argument.

“What exactly is ‘this’ anyway?” Anxiety asked, trying to look above everyone's heads to get a look. Thomas shrugged, nudging the laptop closer to his sides in answer.

"Is this a new video that you're planning to upload?" Logic asked, looking at Thomas and pointing at the laptop.

Thomas shook his head.

"I just saw it in my drafts."

Princey shot Anxiety an ‘I don't believe this’ look while this was happening.

“Well, let's see what it’s all about then.” Princey announced, plopping down next to Thomas on the couch. Logic nodded in agreement with this course of action, and sat down on the other side of Creativity. “Oh boy this sounds like fun!” Morality squealed at the bonding opportunity, skipping over and sitting down next to Thomas on the youtuber’s right.

Anxiety debated on whether to sit down and join the group, or flee to the safety of his ‘room’. After a solid minute of this, Morality chimed in, “Come on, Anxiety.” The Dad patted the seat beside him, smiling at the emo while everyone else looked at the parental side in various states of confusion, disgust and apprehension. Anxiety, slowly and cautiously, walked over to them and sat down next to Morality, the only one who seemed to want him there.

“Are we ready?” Thomas asked, looking at his sides. All four of the sides nodded, some more enthusiastic than others.

Thomas smiled and pressed play on the video.

It started out with a pitch black screen, a set of white text stood out amidst the darkness. It read: ´Stay Tuned til the End For a Trailer Of a New Series…´

The scene cut to Thomas, waking up from his phone alarm in a manner identical to his first video. This detail was not lost on the bewildered audience. “AH! Youtube time!” Thomas on the screen said, grabbing his phone off the side table. “I've been asleep for… Five years?!”

Thomas looked at the sides in confusion at the sudden change. Aside from the initial announcement, it had seemed to be his first video.

Anxiety sat, tense as a guitar string, as Logic pulled out his phone with a critical eye. “It's still 2016.”

“Wait…” the video Thomas said, turning to the camera with distress.

“What if, in that very first Sanders Sides episode I went to sleep, and never woke up? Have all my memories with the sides these past five years… been a dream?”

Thomas rocked back, unnerved at this potential revelation. All, except Logic, began to fret. “What if I'm in a coma right now!” Thomas cried, panicked. “And I'm still stuck!”

“Probably!” Anxiety yelled, barely keeping a handle on his tempest tongue. “Maybe that's why you said that in the video!”

Princey and Mortality screamed, ringing Logic’s ears.

Then, after a harrowing, tense moment of silence, Video Thomas smiles cheekily.

“Naah! But that would be wild, right?”

The group collectively relaxed at that, glad that Thomas was not in a coma. Anxiety taking an extra second to work through his breathing exercises before they all turned their focus back to the screen. Mortality checked on Anxiety, ensuring he’s fully okay, before chuckling at this on-screen Thomas’s antics.

It would seem that five years hadn’t changed Thomas that much.

The intro was... different. Each side flashed briefly on the screen. There was Princey, handsome as ever, with the word ‘Creativity’ beneath to explain his role. A title which changed too fast for any of them to process before being replaced with Logic, then Morality, then... Anxiety, who appeared, smiling, and dressed in... purple?

Thomas pauses it as the Sides talk amongst themselves. Princey looked at the designs in amazement. "These look incredible!" he exclaimed. “Why, my shoulders look so boring in comparison!” Morality eyed the Disney prince for a brief second.

“Your shoulders look great! How dare you say otherwise!” The father figure asserted passionately, defending his princely son even against his own observation.

Logic, for his part, considered his current attire. “I have to say I do like the different colours that Morality and I are wearing in this video. The darker blue is very… sophisticated on me.”

Anxiety’s face lost its already pale pallor, turning gaunt. “How’d they know purple’s my colour?” he whispered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

Princey raised an eyebrow at Anxiety, mistrustful as ever. “Hmmm, you’re still oh so ‘mysterious’, aren’t you?”

Anxiety scowled at the creative trait, hating that his words still hurt. “And you’re still a dramatic drama-in-distress, but you don’t see me complaining, do you?”

Princey reared back in offence, but before a fight could break out, Morality and Logic planted their hands on each side’s shoulder, holding them firmly in their seats.

“I suggest that we continue before there is risk of an… incident, Thomas.” Logic said. Morality nodded in agreement.

Thomas, for his part, was more than happy to move on as his Logic suggested, reaching for the keyboard in silence.

Thomas tapped ‘play’ once more, and the four circles on screen, each of his sides on display, began to combine, morphing together to present Thomas, clad in his Steven Universe shirt and smiling into the camera.

Thomas noticed the blue background actually featured different symbols, all gliding across the screen, and wondered why they were there. Finally, as Thomas’s circle disappeared, the title slid into place: “Sanders Sides”

Thomas is very impressed by this introduction to the video. Why hadn’t he, Talyn, and Joan considered an intro like this before? Well, he supposed they would in the future. Within the next five years, at most.

"What is up everybody?!" the video edition of Thomas exclaimed excitedly, with an ever-familiar grin on his face.

Thomas noticed Morality, sat to his right, waving energetically at the screen as though the recording could see him. The host chuckled at his Morality's antics and continued to watch.

“We have recently rounded the corner of making these Sanders Sides videos, for five years!”

Logic, Princey, and Thomas sat to attention. "Oh!" The three had an epiphany of what's going on, while Morality and Anxiety looked confused between the others, completely out of the loop. Logic decided to take pity on the two, and explained,

"This video is clearly from the future, though how a piece of digital media travelled through spacetime eludes me at present." Morality and Anxiety blinked as comprehension dawned.

“Ooooh!”

Once Thomas was sure all of his sides were on the same page, he hit play.

Video Thomas explains, genuine and earnest, that he's grateful about all the experiences he's had over the course of 5 years. His understanding of his Anxiety, and realising his capacity for Deceit.

Thomas locked his gaze on the side that appeared on the corner of the screen, he looked like a strange fusion of Thomas and a reptile, maybe a snake or lizard, and Thomas had barely a second to take in the stranger’s scales and hat before the image was gone. Video Thomas pressed on, mentioning something strange about a courtroom scene with footage in the corner playing of his sides, in suits, sitting in a wooden courthouse. Before Thomas had time to digest that, he continued to watch.

"-went to the mall! Don't underplay that, it was a big thing for me."

"What happens at the mall? Why’d I have to mention something mundane like going to a mall? I go there all the time!" Thomas asked in indignation, hastily pausing the video to look at his Sides, as though one of them would have an explanation. They shrugged amongst each other, equally as confused as their host and unable to provide an answer.

Logic fixed his glasses with dignity, straightening his tie as he gathered his thoughts, "Maybe you got exceedingly busy with work and other responsibilities, or your friends became unable to meet with you for whatever reason. Or you had gotten so sick that you had not been in a fit enough state to visit the store for a long while? But that is unlikely as you seem perfectly healthy in this video."

Thomas nodded, accepting that his sides didn’t know either, and after a moment unpaused the video.

"And, lord, we ate a lot of jam!" Video Thomas remarked as various clips of the sides, primarily Logic and Princey, stuffing their faces with jam appeared. “Not quite sure how that played such a huge part in this series, but it did!”

Logic grimaced at the sight of his future self being so… uncouth with consuming the jam, but added the spread to his mental ‘to-try’ list, right below Bullet Journaling. His future self couldn’t be entirely without consideration after all.

“And these talks have meant a lot to me, like, every facet of me.”

Thomas smiled at his Video counterpart’s words. His sides did mean a lot to him, after all.

“You know, in television five years is about that time that they would make one of those really self-indulgent interviews with the cast where they'd laugh and talk about their favourite moments on and off screen.” Video Thomas chuckled heartily.

Thomas nodded with his sides, knowing some amazing shows they have watched have pulled that type of stunt.

They all jumped, however, when Video Thomas turned. The angle of the scene changes with a sharp cut, altering Thomas’s outfit along with it.

“And that's exactly what we're gonna do.”

The group felt excited at what future Thomas was doing, leaning in eagerly to see what their future selves were like.

Video Thomas then turned around again, facing to the right, presumably talking to someone who sat off screen.

“Wow, we have sure had some wild times huh? And I know there are those out there that wanna know what your thoughts are on five years of Sanders' Sides!”

It then cut to Logic sat in front of some plain white blinds, clad in a professional looking indigo tie. The small image of a brain with glasses printed on his black polo shirt is stark white in contrast.

“It is hard to believe it’s been five years of these discussions, mainly due to the fact that we’ve only had a little over nine and a half hours on screen together; if you don’t count our interactions that are not considered canonical to the core series, but, even then. My Point is I don’t think we deserve this celebration. Cheers.”

“Well, he rambles just as much as our Logic does. Clearly not much changes there huh?” Princey quipped as Thomas paused the video to stare at the bespectacled side on screen. He looked at him and back at Logic. Then Thomas noticed some text on the bottom left corner of the screen.

‘Logan Sanders - Thomas’ Logic’

‘AKA Microsoft Nerd’

Thomas once again trailed his gaze over to Logic. “Logic? Why does this say ‘Logan Sanders’?“

Logic went speechless, jaw working soundlessly for a moment before finally finding his voice. “I-it’s my name.”

“Your what?!”

“My name. We all have names, Thomas.”

Thomas flickered his eyes between the others. Princey and Morality nodded, pensive.

“Our names are a private thing Thomas. We only give them when we feel you are ready…”

“Which I am SO not ready for.” Anxiety groaned. “Is this video gonna expose all our names? Oh my- no…” He was going into panic attack mode again. Morality comforts Anxiety and helps him calm down.

Thomas nodded, concerned. “Understandable. Should we stop watching then?”

“No!” All four yelled together, startling their host with their volume.

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Thomas pressed play, also eager to see more.

It showed Morality with a different background. It was still the same white blinds, but they were adorned with a happy birthday banner hanging across the blades.

Morality has his same style, much like Logan did, only his cardigan had been traded for a grey hoodie with white paw prints visible on the sleeves. A white heart symbol, wearing glasses much like Logan’s symbol did, was etched into his blue shirt.

*TOOOOOOOT*

“PAPPY BIRTHDAY! Sanders’ Sides would be in kindergarten now! Oh my gosh, it would be going off to its first day of school, making its first friends, eating the chalk-! Oh, my gosh, I- guh- I'm making myself cry again!” The Fatherly side took a sip of Logan’s wine, only to spit it out nary a second later. “Oh gosh, who left this juice out?”

Thomas paused the video again to compare to Morality that he has now and to the video’s. Again, he noticed the text on the bottom left corner.

‘Patton Sanders - Thomas’ Morality & Heart’

‘AKA Pop Star’

“Morality? That's your name?”

Morality nodded and gave a chuckle filled with nervous energy. “Surprise?”

Thomas looked at him and smiled. “I like it. It fits you.”

Morality smiled big as Thomas pressed play to see what was next.

The next scene showed Princey, sitting before the same ‘Happy Birthday’ banner as Patton had been.

His prince outfit looked fancier, with golden accents and two shield symbols set proudly on his arms. He looked like a true prince charming.

“Hello, I'm Roman. Chronically single, I'm a Gemini, and I like long duels on the Beach-”

“Roman!”

“-I'm sorry, what is this again?”

Then the screen did the static of lost connection, startling the five viewers.

Princey, Roman, looked like he was having makeup applied to his cheeks.

“Alright, just be sure to get the best side of this best side, right? Haha, that one’s for the promos! Five years and we’re still going strong with the wordplay right fellas?” He started to laugh.

“Roman!”

The screen did the static of lost connection, again.

Now they saw a sobbing Princey on screen, dabbing at his eyes with a tissue.

*Sniff* “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I'm just, so woefully unprepared for this. Our anniversary! Thomas' viewers amazingly graced with five years... of me!!” he sniffed again, dabbing his nose with the tissue, before waving his hand dismissively. “...And the others, sure.”

Thomas paused the video again to compare the two Princes. He read the text on screen with less hesitation than before.

´Roman Sanders - Thomas´ Creativity, Ego & Passion´

´Aka Sir Sing-A-Lot´

“So Princey's name is Roman?” Thomas looked at Princey. The royal side nodded regally with a smirk.

Thomas smiled. “Huh, Roman. ‘Romance’. It suits you.”

The Prince gasped, happily and dramatically, as Thomas continued the video.

Anxiety was next. He was wearing a full on black hoodie, the familiar dark shade of the clothing was disrupted by the bright purple patches and white stitches all over the fabric. His eyeshadow, they all noticed, was much darker and thicker in the video compared to the present.

Video Anxiety held himself with a confidence that seemed almost alien to him, smiling at off-screen Thomas as he spoke casually.

“Hey yeah congrats guys, five years of putting up with me! It has felt... much longer than that! Mostly ‘coz I've had to deal with him too but, y'know I guess all that stormy weather got us to this miserable point, huh?”

Video Thomas eyed his Anxiety in concern, only for the scene to cut back to Anxiety, whose smile melted to a frown.

“Can I go?” The emo on the screen asked, desperate to escape the awkward atmosphere he’d just created.

Thomas paused the video to compare Anxiety to the video version, after cataloguing the differences he read bottom left text.

‘Virgil Sanders - Thomas’ Anxiety’

‘AKA My Chemically Imbalanced Romance’

Thomas looked at Anxiety. “That's your name? Virgil?”

Anxiety was hesitant, breathing deeply, but instead of panicking further he nodded. “It… it is…” the emo admitted, looking down. He knew, after seeing the others, that his name would come up whether he liked it or not, and he could only hope Thomas liked it.

Thomas started to smile at him, taking the emo by surprise. “It's... different, from the others, but I like that it’s different.”

Anxiety looked up at him, wide eyed at Thomas’ response. “Really? You do?”

Thomas nodded kindly, ignoring the stares he was getting from the other sides who sat watching the exchange. “Shall we continue?”

Anxiety nodded, wanting to move on from being in the spotlight.

The video resumed once more.

The next side shown was the strange fusion of Thomas and a reptile he’d only gotten a glimpse of earlier. He dressed with class, a fashion that wouldn’t be too out of place for the late 1800s or early 1900s era. His outfit was black with yellow buttons, a small black caplt draped on his shoulders, and a bowler hat sat on his head with charm.

When this new side spoke, his tone was dripping with sarcasm and irony.

“Mmmm, yes happy five years, five drama free years. It really is astounding how these little 'meetings of the mind' lead to clear, and concise conclusions that leave everyone so happy, and angst free-”

Thomas read the text on the bottom left hand corner to find out who this strange side is.

‘Janus Sanders - Thomas’ Deceit’

‘AKA Bannaconda’

“Janus?” Thomas mumbled as the video kept playing.

“Okay Janus!” Video Thomas interrupted. “I know that this is your thing, but this is a positive look back on how far we have come. So your recent appearances on screen have been… fun additions.” Video Thomas smiled awkwardly at his own words before asking, “Uuum… do you feel you’re-… jelling... with... the cast?” He spoke with halted familiarity. As though talking to Janus was a common occurrence for him, yet still unpracticed and new.

The scene cuts back to Janus. "Oh, yes! Let's see. There's my new bestie, Patton, who's so good at keeping you in check. I'm sure that you would be totally lost without a man child who ties a cat hoodie around his neck."

Then it cut to Patton pointing at Video Thomas who was offscreen. "Ah!" Patton chuckled, lowering his hand down. "Jan’ said that, huh? Oh, that jokester! He knows how easily cold my shoulders get. Call them my colders!"

Thomas looked at the Sides. All three were looking at Morality, who had his head tilted to the side. "I've never thought about calling him something like that." Morality frowned, struggling to reconcile that, in the future, Deceit was going to be someone he grew close to. Close enough for nicknames.

The video cut back to Janus. "And Logan… ah! You can totally see how he's your sense of reason. Especially when he makes mistakes."

Cut to Logan, who held a small full wine glass aloft as he responded. "Okay, it's just... very interesting that Janus would be so quick to bring up that point, when the odds of a mistake happening again are… infinitesimale. Eh?"

Logic hummed. "Infinitesimale." He spoke slowly, rolling his tongue around the word. "What mistake could I possibly be referring to ‘very big’?"

Morality opens his mouth to correct him, but the video continued before he had the chance.

Janus continued, "Roman… you know…" he sighed wistfully. "Despite our differences, I personally see ourselves in this lovely friendship, akin to me being the Voltaire to his Rousseau."

Roman jerked forward with an intense look at Video Thomas. "He said that about me?! I...I don't have enough information to decide how I feel about that…"

Princey looked confused. "Is that a compliment?" he asked, looking at the others. All four could only shrugged, equally as lost.

Janus smiles wistfully as he gives his thoughts on the fourth and final side. "And Virgil… well, there's not much to say there.” The serpentine side raised the same wineglass Logan had earlier, bringing it close to sip before halting the motion, looking thoughtful.

“Except I do so love the consistency of his make-up." The snake chuckled, dark and ominous, as he sipped the wine.

None of the group were surprised at this point when Virgil appeared on screen, looking red in the face and seething.

"That! Futher! Mucker!"

Thomas pauses the video and looks at the Sides. Anxiety looked confused and a bit upset. "Still not friends?" Anxiety whispered feebly. "What?" Logic asked, not able to make out what Anxiety had uttered. This drew the others' attention.

"Anxiety? What's wrong?" Thomas asked. Anxiety shot his host a look and frantically shook his head. When he answers, his voice is tense and defensive, "Nothing…"

"...Want to talk about it-?" Princey began, unsure if he should ask.

Anxiety shook his head in refusal before the creative side’s question could finish. "I'm not ready to tell any of you yet."

Morality looked at him, then the screen, and back to him. "Is it about Him?" He asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Anxiety pulled his hoodie up, trying to hide from the attention.

"Who?" Thomas frowned at the vagueness of his sides, wanting to know more.

"An ex-friend..." Anxiety mumbled. "That's all I'm gonna say."

Thomas nodded, knowing better than to push. "Okay." He said, and unpaused the video to prevent the others from pressing the subject.

The next thing that was on screen was shocking and unexpected. The screen was taken up by a black clad rear bouncing and wiggling inappropriately. A small green sword emblem was designed on it.

"Hey! Check it out, I'm Roman!" the side cackled. “Get my best side, am I right?”

"Oh. I can't believe this is how I'm finding out where your emblem is" Video Thomas sighed, pleading for strength. "Um, Remus? Can we sit correctly, buddy?"

The new side twizzled around to sit properly on the chair. He looked remarkably similar to Roman, only he was wearing a fancy black outfit as opposed to Roman’s pure white, and green sash across his torso instead of a red one. He also has a moustache and grey stripe in his hair. He certainly looked unique.

"Who says that there's a correct way to sit? Have you ever thought about that, man?" This new side, apparently named Remus said. Video Thomas was thinking of an answer and started "Remus-" but was interrupted by Remus saying, "Expand your f***ing mind, bro!"

Thomas paused the video, just to clear his mind and look at the bottom text.

‘Remus Sanders - Thomas’ Forbidden Creativity’

‘AKA The Duke’

"Remus? Forbidden Creativity?" Thomas reads. He looked at the sides "Who is Remus or Forbidden Creativity?"

"No one." Princey injected before Logic had a chance to answer, quick and tense. "He’s no one."

“He sure looks like someone…” Thomas said, looking at the screen. He didn't notice that Princey glared at Anxiety, like ‘You better not tell him’ look. Anxiety gave him an ‘I’m not going to’ look in response.

Logic sighed as he looked at Princey and Anxiety. “Remus is your ‘Forbidden Creativity’. He is, for lack of a better term, Princey´s twin.” Logic said, fixing his glasses. “Teach!” Princey and Anxiety yelled at Logic but the smart side didn't pay them any mind.

“Princey has a twin?” Thomas asked, wide eyed.

Logic nodded, pleased that Thomas was listening. “As a child, your creativity split in two as you began to understand what constitutes ‘good’ and ‘bad’, as taught by your parents, resulting in two different creativities.”

Thomas hummed, taking in this new information silently for a moment as he examined the moustached side on the screen.

“Is there a reason why that happened?” asked Thomas, getting interested. Logic shrugged. “It just happened, that's all we know.”

Thomas nodded, knowing that's as good as he was going to get. He pressed play on the video, curious about this ‘other Creativity’. This Duke.

Video Thomas sighed again. “Everyone has given their thoughts on the past five years of the series. Do you have any thoughts you'd like to add, he asked knowing he’d regret it?”

Remus nodded. “Oh, you mean the three episodes that I was in? Oh they were fine.” Remus replied. “Nothing like what’s coming up...”

“Uh, what?” Thomas and Video Thomas echoed at the same time.

“Oh honey!” Remus chuckled. A yellow gloved hand appeared onscreen with a squirt bottle, labelled ‘Anti Spoiler Spray’. It seemed to be Janus about to intervene. “You've got a big storm coming-!” Remus started to continue but was interrupted by the squirt bottle spraying a clear liquid onto him. "AH! SOAP!" Remus yelled in pain, wiping the substance off of his face. “Sheesh! You couldn’t just tell me to stop?! Kill a guy for being excited, why don't you?!” Remus’s grimace morphed into an unhinged grin. “Really, why don’t you?” He brandished a knife.

Thomas accidentally hit pause when he jumped and yelled, “Knife!”

Anxiety didn’t look as surprising or panicked as the others. “That’s a normal thing.” he said, his arms crossed. Everyone looked at him like he said something strange or said a dead language. “What? I’ve lived with him for years.”

“Are you okay?” Thomas asked, concerned. Anxiety nodded and leaned back. “I’m good. We can continue if you guys want.”

Thomas nodded and hit play.

The next scene was Roman, who was reading a book titled 'What Voltaire Did to Rousseau'. "Mhm. Okay. Alright, so he was insulting me." Roman said, lowering his book. “That’s just, that, why- hmhmhmhm,” He chuckled without humour, "I hate that guy."

Patton came up on the screen, he seemed to be trying to think of something. "A favourite memory from the show? That-that is just so hard! There have been so! many! wonderful moments with everyone!” Patton gushed, grinning. “Sure, even Janus and I have been getting closer. The other day, he gave me half his sandwich!”

Janus appeared and said, “I mistook him for a garbage can...” He gave a guilty grimace.

Thomas paused the video to look at Morality with a raised eyebrow.

“If he’s saying that I ate a food that was just left out, that's something that I do.” Morality stated factually. “Even if it’s thrown at me.”

With nothing more to say to that, the video continued.

Logan appeared holding a larger wine glass. "Quite a lot has changed these past years. Not only with you learning about Janus's and Remus's existence but also in how we conduct our day to day. Some examples being us, generally, talking to each other more respectfully, and leaving behind past toxic behaviours."

Video Thomas nodded in agreement.

When the shot returned to Logan, he continued, "'Course there's still work to be done on that front. The talking may be there but the listening is another story." He ends his statement with a sip of his drink.

“I am listened to, right?” Logic asked worriedly, looking at Thomas.

The host nodded. “Sure you are.” Thomas smiled at him reassuringly.

Their heads turned back to the screen.

Remus was pouting as he mimicked, probably the fanders, "Oh boo hoo! The others used to be mean to each other!" He was quick to drop the act. "Do you know how bored I was before you decided to confront me?!" Remus exclaimed, pointing at himself. “All I did was walk around and look for stuff in your head to f*** with!”

Video Thomas just sighed with resignation, clearly used to or expecting Remus to behave like this.

Remus smirked as he told Video Thomas that he found a place called ‘Mind Palace’ while waiting for his turn to be confronted. Remus exclaimed, “Big echoey place! I can’t believe that you decided to ditch it after one episode! So wasteful!”

There was a clip on the side of a room. It was a big room that didn't have padding, so Remus’ claims that it echoed made sense.

Video Thomas Looked offended like he was going to say something back at him, but failed to find words to counter Remus’s claim before the scene cut to Janus.

“There actually was one amazing perk to not being in the spotlight for a while." Janus smirked mischievously. "Any time they all left to deal with a stubbed emotional toe, Remus and I had the opportunity to indulge ourselves in something truly devious." He put his finger tips together in a villainous pose, grinning menacingly.

Thomas paused with a frown, concerned. "Like… bad?" he asked the others. Logic, Princey, and Morality looked nervous as Anxiety sighed, repressing an unwanted smile, "Just watch."

The next scene showed two pairs of black shoes, one smart dress shoes with yellow socks, while the other wore black belted booties. Both were enthusiastically playing DDR.

Thomas and the Sides laughed loudly when they realised what they were seeing.

The two side’s game was halted when Patton’s disembodied voice cut in off screen, yelling “Heading back to my room for a sec guys, forgot my pants!” They ran off with harsh hisses of “Get out! Get out!”

“My DDR?!” Morality exclaimed. “And- my pants?”

The video cut to Patton. “That’s who was using my DDR?” He exclaimed, clearly shocked. "I thought it was a ghost!"

Morality was still in shock as well. “I thought so as well! And why didn’t I have pants on?” Morality asked, looking at the others. Everyone shrugged, lacking the context for that, and continued to watch.

Remus was on screen now and is looking towards the bottom corner, the area with text. “Oh hell yeah! You got my nickname down there?!” Remus yelled excitedly.

Thomas looked at where Remus was looking at.

‘Remus Sanders’

‘AKA Dukey’

“-like Princey!” Remus laughed and did a hand flick. “Classic!”

Thomas was confused by what he missed from what Remus said, but he continued to watch, not wanting to rewind and disrupt.

Roman was looking in the corner that displayed his name. “W-What is that?!” he shouted, enraged.

Thomas peered at what the on-screen Creativity was looking at.

‘Roman Sanders’

‘AKA Pissy’

“Pfft, That, uh, that was Remus.” Video Thomas said, trying and failing to hold in a laugh.

Roman looked mad as he seethed, “That, mother loving moustachioed mudbug!”

Roman regained his composure before addressing Video Thomas. “Excuse me a moment, I have to go healthily communicate my feelings with my brother!”

Roman brandished his sword and, in the process, broke the vase of flowers that was on the table with the back of the handle as he left.

Video Thomas gaped in shock. “O- Wha-”

Thomas was in shock along with the sides as he paused it. “I- What happened?” Thomas tried to process the events the video just showed.

“I’m not sure but I’m going to find my brother!” Princey announced, getting off his seat in preparation to leave. Morality and Logic grabbed their fellow side’s arms and forced him to sit back down, shooting him reprimanding looks.

Thomas looked worried at them while Anxiety was trying to stay calm. “Let’s keep watching.” Anxiety interjected. ‘Before something happens.’

The host nodded and hit play, drawing the others' attention.

Virgil appeared on screen. He had just finished thinking deep and said, “I'd say communication for me is uh, better. Totally 100% able to communicate my feelings now like a champ! No problemo!”

Video Thomas didn’t look remotely convinced by what Virgil was trying to sell. “Uh-huh, uh-huh.”

Virgil’s expression changed to look like he was admitting something. "Th-uh, the abstract stuff helped a lot though, y'know? Like those puppets? Yea. Surprisingly didn't hate how those were used to handle an issue"

"Oh, yeah?" Video Thomas asked, pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah."

Video Thomas leaned in, eager yet hesitant. “I was wondering… do you ever… still… ”

Virgil turns into a soft puppet form, a small felt figure, probably a sock, with two mismatched button eyes and black marker ink under the buttons. “Sometimes.”

Everyone had their jaws dropped as Thomas hit pause.

"Aw!" Morality exclaimed, putting hands over his mouth.

"How did you-?" Princey tried to get the words out.

"I don't know." Anxiety whispered, processing his future self’s behaviour.

"Can you all… do that?" Thomas asked, pointing at the puppet.

Logic shrugged. "Of course we can, we are figments of your imagination. Though we cannot take on those puppet forms yet. We cannot shift into something that doesn’t exist without due preparation."

Thomas hummed at the answer and pressed continue.

“I couldn’t find him!” Roman exclaimed, exasperated, as he reclaimed his seat. "Might have gone back to hiding in the walls." Whatever brother-based rant he’d been about to go on came to a halt when he peered down at the shattered remains of the red vase. Large glass pieces cleaned up and resting in a dustpan.

“...Who broke this vase?” Roman exclaimed, looking around to find who broke the vase that he himself had unknowingly broken.

“Hey! Nice callback-!” started Video Thomas as he smiled at him, but that was interrupted by Roman’s loud cutoff.

“DON’T use the word “Callback” around me!”

Video Thomas nodded with an understanding expression.

Thomas was very confused as he paused the video. The Sides were all just as baffled. “What happened?” he asked, worriedly.

“I have no clue.” Princey said, lips puckered as he tried to think of an explanation. “Bad audition maybe and still trying to get over it?”

“That could be it.” Logic said, nodding.

‘That would make sense.’ Thomas thought as he pressed play.

When Roman stopped being overly dramatic, he returned to himself and faced the camera.

“But since we’re on the topic of performing, ” Roman said. “One thing I would like to see more of. Songs!” Then Roman started to clap. “WE! NEED! MORE! MUSICAL NUMBERS!”

Roman did jazz hands as some clips of the music numbers showed up, which got Pincey excited. “Musical numbers!” He exclaimed happily.

"As a theatre kid-"

"Theater man. I'm an adult man."

"I feel musically constipated! I mean, you know how hard it is to talk about the last five years and not make a Jason Robert Brown reference?" Roman explained and then laughed. "That's for the fellow theatre kids out there!"

"The songs are fine." Virgil said as he appeared on screen. Then he smirked. "If you don't count the Twelve Days of Christmas rewrite."

Janus was looking at his glove covered nails before turning back to Video Thomas. "Oh, yes. The songs. The musical numbers that you all break into." Janus said. "Emphasis on you all, because I have been absent from every one. I couldn't be more happy about that." Despite his words, all five of them could tell how false they were.

Virgil smirked. "Ask Janus about our song ‘Lies’." He requested.

The next scene made Thomas and the Sides jump when they saw a red faced Janus on screen.

“IT WAS A SONG ABOUT LIES!” Janus yelled, his human side red of anger. Everyone jumped again as he continued to shout, “AND I WASN’T THERE FOR IT!”

Thomas pauses the video and everyone stares at the mad reptile character.

“Well, he looks upset.” Thomas said, surprised.

The emo was in shock. “I thought that he would be fine with it…”

“I thought that he was evil!” Creativity exclaimed. “He’s not…” Anxiety said. “He’s just not a good friend.”

Logic was about to ask Anxiety what he meant, but the dark side put up his hoodie and curled up into a ball. Clearly not wanting to talk about it.

“Hmm! Well, I think we should move on.” Logic said.

Thomas nodded and pressed play, hoping that things wouldn't get worse.

Roman was on the screen. “Wai- hold on shut up, what did Virgil say about my Twelve Days Of Christmas rewrite?” Roman asked angrily. "This is about the Bubblegum Shrimp thing, isn't it? Look, the muse doesn't always come to visit." He explains. "I can't be expected to pump out metaphors and similes like some... simile making... thing!" Roman pointed at his mouth “SEE?!” before he continued, "The shrimp line was a last minute addition, and I have no clue where it came from!"

Remus looks like he just remembered something. “Oh yeah, I whispered that to him in his sleep.”

“Wait- WHAT!?” Princey shouts, pointing at the screen. “Is that how I got the Dark Side Of Disney?!”

Thomas looks over to him, “Oh! That sounds interesting.”

Roman waved his hands to cool himself. “I need to cool off!” Roman said, calming down a bit. “Switching topics! If this is our little ‘cast special’, shouldn’t we talk about the newest addition to our cast?”

"Newest addition?" Video Thomas asked.

“Thomas...” Roman whispered but then he got louder as he continued, "I'm talking about Nicooooooo~!!!!"

"Nico?" Thomas and the Sides jinxed, looking at each other. They looked back at the screen in hopes of an explanation.

"Oh gosh! Roman!" Video Thomas blushes hard, covering his face with his hands.

There were a few animated clips of a man with glasses alongside Video Thomas. A handsome man to be exact.

Thomas stares for a second, but he reminds himself that he’s already with someone.

Roman smiles at Video Thomas. "Ey, come on Thomas!" He exclaimed. "Hey, I know I'm getting along a little better with Scareamore, but he needs to let me speed things up a bit, alright? We should be on, like, a millionth base with Nico already!"

Virgil looked so done and confused. "Yea pff, a millionth base, ok what is that?" He asked, exasperated. "Space marriage officiated by Gandolf and ****ing Dumbledore?”

“That’s exactly what it is.” Roman said, amazed and unexpected. “Wow! He got like, right on the money.”

“That’s true.” Princey said, surprised. He looked at Anxiety. “How did you know?”

Anxiety shrugged. “I have no clue,” he answered. “Really, I don’t.”

They looked back at the screen.

Patton looked like he remembered someone as he giggled. “Oh yeah, Nico!” Patton exclaimed then he trailed off. "He, he seems… nice… looking forward to getting to know him!"

"Why do I sound so unsure?" Morality asked. "And who IS this Nico?"

Thomas nodded, trying to remember if he knows a Nico.

He got nothing.

"Yeah. I don't know who this Nico is." Thomas said after a moment. "Also! I'm already with someone."

All the sides nodded.

Logan appears to be considering the new topic.

"I am intrigued to know what his interests may consist of.” Logan explained. "Maybe math, sports, Metal Viking- sorry! Viking Metal.”

“Isn’t that what Talyin enjoys?” Logic asked.

Thomas nodded. “They do enjoy that,” he said. “Maybe they showed us a song that they enjoy and we end up liking it.”

Logic hummed and nodded.

Virgil adjusted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. "Okay. You know, can I be honest about something?" Virgil said, uncomfortable. "I know that we've all moved past it, but that time we were still pretending to be straight, and you all were flirting with a fake Valerie? Still haunts me..."

Thomas paused the video and looked at Anxiety.

“What, does Valerie make you uncomfortable?” Thomas asked, worriedly.

The emo shook his head. “No… it's just us not being…” Anxiety didn’t finish that sentence because everyone knew the answer.

Thomas noticed that Anxiety didn't like this topic.

“That’s understandable.” he said, pressing to continue.

They saw a clip of everyone talking, possibly flirting, to Valerie appears in the corner.

Video Thomas chuckled.

"Well, I think that I was going for more like a sexually ambiguous, uh, it wasn't that bad." Video Thomas said. He started to laugh but then stopped short at the lack of reaction from off screen. "...Right?"

Patton appears, grimacing in distaste.

Logan, who is holding a GIGANTIC wine glass, sighs. "Not our most feminist moment." He said before taking a sip.

"I thought about it every day." Virgil said, very tense.

"Okay well, we'll make better memories and we'll forget about it eventually, hopefully.” Video Thomas said.

Virgil shakes his head, clearly not believing Video Thomas.

Thomas hums and pauses the video to hear the others' response.

Logic and Morality are too uncomfortable to speak.

"Were they talking about the few Vines that we did with Valerie? Or will that be in the future?" Princey asked. "Because we’ve done a few Vines with girls before and didn’t Thomas date one-"

“PRINCEY! I’M GOING TO STOP YOU RIGHT THERE!” Anxiety shouted, his voice booming off the walls and causing everyone to jump. “IF YOU KEEP GOING, I’LL GET YOUR BROTHER’S MACE AND-!”

A soft saxophone playing a creepy tune interrupts him. All the sides’ eyes widen at the tune growing louder, louder, louder.

“I MEAN MORNING STAR!” Anxiety shouted over the tune. Then he cleared his throat, his voice going back to normal, “I mean your brother’s morning star, Princey.”

Then the saxophone playing the creepy tune faded away, which calmed the room as it left.

Princey smiled nervously and said, “I’ll not talk about it then.” He looked at Thomas. “May we continue, please?”

Thomas nodded and pressed play, ‘What just happened?’ he thought, concernedly.

Patton smiled and pointed offscreen at Video Thomas.

“If we are talking new memories, then maybe when you get a puppy? Like a real puppy? That will be my favourite moment!” Patton exclaimed happily.

A clip of Patton holding a puppy in his hoodie and Roman holding two of the adorable things pops up in the corner, both sides clearly happy to hold them.

The seated Patton looked like he’s on the verge of tears. “Ooh… I miss having a pet.”

It then cuts to Janus who is looking decidedly annoyed.

“Why does everyone care so much about what happened to Sacagawea the Hamster?!” Janus exclaimed angrily. Then he looked at the camera and said, “Folks, she’s gone. She mysteriously disappeared and no one has a clue where she went.”

Then he points at the top of his head with his left pointer finger and his other finger over his mouth. “Shh.”

Video Thomas looked at Janus and at his hat. “Are you implying that she’s under your hat?” he asked.

“No, I’m implying that you all use your brains.” Janus explained, still pointing at the top of his head. “She’s gone!” Then Janus tries not to smile.

Thomas started to notice something. “Wait, where is Sacagawea the Hamster?” Thomas asked, his eyes widened as he pressed pause. Anxiety smiled. “Should I go after Deceit and see if she’s under his hat?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Maybe later.” Thomas said as he unpaused the video.

Video Thomas leaned back a bit as he said, “I know that we had a lot of successes in the past five years,” then he leaned forward, “but do you have any regrets?” Video Thomas almost slipped when he leaned too forward.

Virgil was looking up as he was thinking.

“Do I have any regrets? Hmm?” Virgil asked himself. Then he got a scroll out and let the bottom part out to show a LONG list. “Do you want me to go alphabetically or-”

Roman looked surprised.

“What? Me? Regret?” he asked, putting a hand on himself. Then he started to laugh but then stopped as he picked up a photo.

It was a wedding cake.

“I have one regret…” Roman said, putting a hand on the photo.

Video Thomas looked at the photo, confused.

“Wait, that doesn’t look like Lee and Mary Lee’s wedding.” Video Thomas said. “Did you print out a stock image?”

Everyone jumped when an angry Roman shouted, “You didn’t take any photos!” Then Roman points at the photo as he continues, “I needed something to look upon whilst I lament!”

“Is that the reason for the ‘Don’t use the call back’ thing?” Princey asked, confused. “A wedding?”

Everyone shrugged.

“Could be.” Logic replied. “We don’t know until it happens.”

Logan appeared onscreen.

“I do regret throwing that paper at puppet Roman.” Logan said after a moment.

A clip of Logan throwing a piece of paper at a puppet Roman and the puppet covered his eye that the paper hit.

“It was immature of me.” Logan continued, looking not so proud of himself.

The scene cuts back to Roman.

“Oh! I wish that I had thrown paper at Logan first!” Roman said excitedly. “That would have been sweet!”

Patton had a questionable look on his face.

“Regrets? Oh, I have a few,” Patton said, admitting, “like not sharing my feelings with the others, especially when I was sad.”

A clip of the sides in the living room but it was lighter and the clip of Patton, looking sad, at his spot, that showed bed curtains instead of white blinds.

“We could have had so many boys' nights.” Patton said, almost sad. Then he gasped, “With ice cream!”

Mortality nodded. “Yeah… That is true…” he said quietly. Anxiety looked at him and gave an awkward hug. Mortality smiled softly at him and hugged him back. “I’m okay, kiddo.” he reassured him.

They continued to watch after the hug.

Virgil was reading off of the list, “I also regret starting Logan off on that whole falsehood bit.”

A clip of Logan shouting, “FALSEHOOD!!!”

That made everyone jump.

Remus was drinking the ‘Anti Spoiler Spray’. When he was done, he was having an allergic reaction.

“Regrets?” he asked horsley, scratching at his neck fast.

“Yeah, I don’t know why I asked you that question,” Video Thomas said, “my bad.”

Then the screen cut back to Virgil, who was still reading off of the list.

Virgil started, “Also the-” then he started to gag but continued, “boiled carrots.”

A clip of Nico holding a fast food bag that has the name King Karrots and giving it to Video Thomas.

Maybe that’s how they will meet or it’s a date?

Patton appeared on the screen again. Excpt with the cardigan on his shoulders instead of the cat hoodie.

“Gosh, one huge regret I have is,” Patton started, but then his voice changed to the voice of Janus, “a lack of attention… to detail.”

Video Thomas was almost caught off guard.

“Oh, Janus!” Video Thomas said with a smile. “Don’t be so tough on yourself.”

Janus, who was still disguised as Patton, changed the cardigan to the cat hoodie on his shoulders.

“No, it’s alright.” Janus said reassuringly, a smile on his face. “I’ve grown.”

Video Thomas’ smile faded away as he said, “Oh… great…”

Anxiety pointing at the screen, smiling.

“I called it!” Anxiety shouted. “I knew that it was Deceit!”

Everyone looked at him. “What?” Anxiety asked. “I’ve known him for years too.”

Thomas nodded. “Okay.” he said.

Everyone was quiet as they looked back at the screen as the video continued.

Then it was Virgil's turn, who was still on the list.

"And lastly, yeah, yeah. Achieving consciousness." Virgil said, putting the scroll away. "That was a big one."

Everyone looked at Anxiety as he said, “It's a long story. Let’s just watch the video.”

Roman sighed.

“It’s amazing how much has changed in five years. I’d like to think that I’ve grown…” the prince on screen said, almost sounding sad. “It’s been nice getting to know each other better, at least. Like Patton… and Logan… and Virgil.” Roman sounded happier when he said Virgil’s name.

Patton looked like a proud dad.

“Virgil has come a long way.” the fatherly side said proudly, smiling. “I hope he knows how much we love him.”

Logan looked somewhat proud of Virgil.

“We couldn’t function without him,” the teacher on the screen said, "as we saw."

The next scene showed Logan yelling “Think fast!” and throwing a laptop at Video Thomas, who had a gray hoodie up and was unbothered by the hit. Patton and Roman were shocked by Video Thomas not being bothered with being hit. “That really hurt.” Video Thomas said, smiling.

“Can that happen?” Anxiety asked, surprised. “I guess it can.” Logic replied, sounding shocked.

'I guess Anxiety is good.' Thomas said, humming. 'And without Anxiety, I would be just chill that I wouldn't know what would hurt me or not. Like in the video.'

Virgil looked a bit uncomfortable.

“Oh. Gross.” the emo on the screen said. “I don’t know what I'm supposed to say to that," Then Virgil looked away as he continued, "I guess it's nice to know that they think they feel that way."

Thomas was taken back and looked at Anxiety.

The emo looked confused.

Thomas looked back at the screen when he heard Patton awning something.

“We’re like a big family!” Patton exclaimed happily and then he pointed at himself. "And I'm the dad! And Logan's the mom!"

Then Logan appeared on the screen with a wine bottle with glass on top of it. "Why am I the mom?" Logan asked confusedly. "What gender roles are we pushing here?"

Thomas noticed that there were words on the bottle. It reads "Finally a wine glass that fits my needs."

Then he hears Logic asking Morality, "Do you really see me as the mom?"

Morality explained, "You act like a mom who sometimes likes juice."

Virgil looked not convinced.

"I know they're probably thinking I'm like the son, but I'm not." Virgil said, pointing at Video Thomas. Then he points to the side. "I'll be the gay emo cousin."

Then Roman appeared, pointing at himself.

"I'll be the son!" Roman exclaimed. "The hotshot, whose dream is to be… a star…" Roman sounded sad at the end.

Thomas looked at the sides.

Princy had a sad face and Anxiety looked mortified.

“I’m not going to ask,” Thomas said, “because the looks on both of your faces say it all.”

Remus was shrugging as he said, "I feel like I'd be a fresh outta jail uncle."

Janus had a wine glass.

"And I'm the sassy aunt, who talks **** about everyone." He said before sipping his glass.

Thomas hummed as he pressed pause to hear what the side's commitments were going to be.

Anxiety hummed. "Deceit and Duke sound like them."

Everyone nodded.

Thomas pressed continue.

Video Thomas laughed for a moment. "I know this is a pretty intense question to ask," he started. Then he leaned forward with a serious look on his face. "What do you think will be next for us?"

Thomas and his Sides were on the edge of their seats as they watched the screen.

Logan had his arms crossed his chest. "You tell me."

Roman looked like it was a joke.

"We seal the deal with Nico and we live happily ever after." He said, laughing softly. "It's simple."

Patton had a lot on his mind.

"I think things are just going to keep getting better, right? " Patton said, looking at Video Thomas. "If we keep communicating."

Virgil shrugged and smiled a smug smile.

"Probably something that I'm going to hate." Virgil said openly.

"Oh, who's to say, heartbreak, betrayal." Janus said, listing the things that can happen. "You won't be bored, I can tell you that."

‘I don't know if I should be excited or worried.’ Thomas thought nervously.

Remus had a comforting and softer look.

"And I shall be learning to better receive acceptance and praise.” Remus said, sounding innocent.

That touched Thomas and his video self.

“Wow, Remus.” Video Thomas said, putting both hands over his heart. He was smiling at him like proud. “That sounds healthy and productive.”

“Thank you.” Remus said, nodding to him. But then the feeling of uncomfort and his voice changed back to his normal tone and said, “Excpt Acceptance and Praise are the names of my-”

An air horn blares loudly, causing Thomas and the others to scream. Thomas pressed pause and looked around to see what made the sound.

Anxiety was holding the air horn. “You don’t want to know, Sanders.” he said threatenly.

The host nodded slowly and pressed play.

For a moment, Remus was holding two things that were censored.

"Okay!" Video Thomas exclaimed, probably to stop Remus saying anymore.

Then he looked at the camera. "And that's my cue to wrap this up." he said, smiling before looking offscreen. "Thank you for talking with me, guys. I seriously don't know where I'd be without you."

Thomas felt happy from his future self saying those words.

"There's not much else to say except," Video Thomas continued, smiling and opened his arms out to the Sides, "Happy 5th anniversary!"

"Happy 5th anniversary!" The Sides on the screen exclaimed while Remus said something else.

All that Thomas heard that Remus said was "-ick surgeries!"

The others looked confused and looked at Remus as The dark creativity on screen asked, "What did everyone else say?"

"I guess I should not know, right?" Thomas chuckled confusedly.

The four sides nodded. “It’s best not to.” Anxiety said somewhat happily.

The camera was in front of Video Thomas, smiling big.

"So yeah, a special might look a little something like that!" Video Thomas explains. "A walk down memory lane, saturated with too many self-referential jokes and anecdotes that would surely ostracise any non-fan watching."

Thomas chuckled softly. He knew that not everyone would like the series but he wanted to share this series. He hoped that his Sides knew that too.

Video Thomas sighed, "But we really have gone through so many changes. I mean, heck, compare Logan's behaviour at the start of the series to now-" then he stopped himself. "Sorry, nope. Done with the self-referential anecdotes."

"Yeah. I'm wondering what happened to everyone." Logic said. He sounded concerned.

Everyone nodded.

"Well, we do change and learn." Thomas said softly.

Video Thomas continued, "I guess what it's got me thinking is how will they change in the years to come? How will they grow? How will I grow? How will any of us grow?" Video Thomas paused for a moment. "Of course there's no knowing how we're growing. All we can do is keep an open mind and open heart. And keep on checking in with ourselves.”

Thomas and the sides leaned in because of the expense of the pause.

Video Thomas smiled softly as he continued, "Because we still might not know if we know ourselves as well as we could."

That left an imprint in Thomas and the Sides. 'That’s good to know.' Thomas thought happily.

"Aw!" Morality cooed softly.

"He does have a point." Anxiety and Logic said union, pointing at the screen.

"We'll be ready for it!" Princey said, raising his sword. Logic moved his arm, so it didn't get cut.

Video Thomas smiled at the camera as he said, "Take it easy guys, gals, and non-binary pals!"

"Peace out!" Thomas said with Video Thomas. The Sides chuckled softly as he did that.

Thomas couldn't help himself, he just enjoys saying it.

The screen on the computer was black for a moment before it showed a sky full of stars appeared on screen along with a few words.

"Would you like to escape to a wonderful world?" An announcer, who almost sounded like Roman, said, reading the words on screen.

Soft magical music played as an animation played and a boot appeared on screen. Then it shows a man in a red vest, who's probably being played by Thomas, walking through the woods.

"With heros, villains, and more to unfurl?"

It showed a different character with purple hair, who was NOT being played by Thomas, was singing a tune before looking at the character while the character looked back at him.

"Ridiculous battles and super cool magic. Perhaps dare I say something angsty and tragic?"

The two characters looked at each other and raised their swords.

"Prepare yourself for" the narrator said and paused supper effects.

Both characters were on top of a some sort of monster as they slay it with their swords. A burst of light flashed on screen when they slayed and the title appeared:

“Roleslaying with Roman”

The next shot showed a paper character of the red vest person on a board game. Then a 12-sided dice rolled on screen as the scene ended.

Princey gave a fangirl scream, making everyone in the room cover their own ears. “I get my own series!” he yelled excitedly.

“Yes… You do.” everyone said, staring at him in surprise. The Sides talked about what they saw. One of the things was, “I like the purple guy’s hair.”

Thomas couldn’t help but think about the purple hair character. ‘Why does that character remind me of Terrance?’

They all look back at the screen when Video Thomas, who was wearing a different shirt, popped up on screen.

“Hope that you all enjoyed that trailer, ‘cause I’m excited. ” Video Thomas said, smiling big. “I don’t know why I added that, but I was excited!” he laughed with some people offscreen.

The end card came up as Video Thomas continued, “And I hope that you enjoyed this video!” Then he talked about the writer’s room about the script of this with the jokes and stuff.

He asked if anyone was interested in joining the writer’s room to check it out at Patreon. He also mentions a calendar based on the Sander Sides.

A hand did pop up a few when Video Thomas said ‘hand’, which was funny.

Thomas and the sides were very confused about this Patreon thing.

“What is Patreon?” Thomas asked. The sides shrugged.

“Alright, that’s enough announcements.” Video Thomas said, happily. “I’ll let you go. Thank you again for every bit of support that you have provided these past five years. I love you all so much! I’ve said ‘goodbye’ enough. Bye”

Video Thomas sank out of screen.

Then he popped back up again and said, “and that last ‘goodbye’ doesn’t count.” and then he went back down again.

“Well, that was interesting.” Thomas chuckled softly.

The sides nodded. “Agreed.”

Thomas was about to close the laptop but stopped when he heard scary music being played from it.

He opened it back up again.

Thomas looked at the screen with the Sides as the screen showed an unremarkable orange sitting on the chair.

‘What-?’ Thomas thought confusedly but it was interrupted by Anxiety screaming.

And the next thing Thomas knew was that Anxiety was running from Princey, who had his sword out.

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!" Princey shouted at Anxiety while the emo ran, screaming more.

Mortality ran after them. Thomas was very confused as Logic continued to sit next to him, rubbing his forehead. "...I need a drink." Thomas and Logic bemoaned.

○

In the morning, Joan and Talyn walked into the apartment to find Thomas on the couch, passed out. They went to make sure that he's okay and not dead.

He's good and alive, but far from sober.

Joan and Talyn looked at each other. “You take him to his room and I look at the laptop to see if anything is messed up.” Talyn said quickly before Joan said anything. “Why me?” Joan asked, looking at them as they walked to the couch.

“Have you seen how BIG he is compared to me?” Talyn asked with some sass, picking up the laptop.

“Good point.” Joan replied, pointing at them. They picked Thomas up and started to get an arm around their shoulder. "I got you buddy." They said as they walked him up the stairs.

“More than four sides...” Thomas mumbled as they walked up the stairs. “For what? Sanders sides?” Joan asked, looking at him. Thomas nodded with a smile. “YEAH!” he shouted. Joan winched at that, which made Thomas frowned.

“Sorry…”

“It’s okay, Thomas.” Joan reassured him as they got into Thomas’ room. Thomas listed some things for the show while Joan listened to him as they got him to bed.

Joan got Thomas to bed and went to get water and medicine for him. Joan puts the objects on the bedside table, Thomas smiles at them.

“You’re a good friend.” Thomas said before going to sleep.

Joan chuckled and smiled softly. ”You’re a good friend too.” they said, as they left the room.

Joan started to think about what Thomas said as they walked back to Talyn. ‘Maybe. We could do that.’ they thought, a smile growing on their face.

▪▪▪

Author's note: Happy Anniversary of Sanders Sides!

#where do you see yourself in five years?#sanders sides #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #thomas sanders #c!thomas #joan stokes #Sanders sides fic

14 notes · View notes

electrasev5nwrites · 1 year

Text

Ninja Daily: Vapors 25

"He's not in the village," Tsunade deadpanned, stamping a form with more force than necessary. Her desk shuddered. Shizune slipped the paperwork out from her reach, tucking it into a manila folder and holding it to her chest. She gave her Hokage an admonishing look. Tsunade rolled her eyes and scrabbled around in her top drawer for an envelope. She labeled it in the same imperious, elegant handwriting that graced the invitation that Temari clutched awkwardly with clammy fingers. The office building was cold, damnit.

Gaara seemed momentarily speechless, staring blankly out the window behind the busty woman growling about the indignity about being strong-armed into mundane paperwork in front of snot-nosed diplomats when she was supposed to be impressing them.

Temari rather thought that not referring to her as "snot-nosed" to her face would have done more for her opinion of the woman than whether or not she was doing paperwork.

That didn't mean she was going to say anything about being offended, however. She wasn't stupid. The village she headed may have been full of sissies, but the Slug Sannin herself was rather famously ill-tempered and punch-happy.

At her side, Gaara gave a slight frown. Temari felt a little sorry for him—he must have been eager to see his friend again if he'd actually made the effort to get onto the mission roster. He'd never had a friend before, so this disappointment would be a new one. She steeled herself for a moment before reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. He turned to blink at her, gaze flicking down to her hand, posture relaxing oh-so-slightly.

Tsunade looked up irritably, pushing herself to a standing position and striding to the door. "Well, come on then, girl. I haven't got all day."

Shizune flushed a pretty pink, carefully not looking at the foreign guests lingering in the office doorway. "Please, this way please, Temari-san." She bustled down the hall towards a small conference room, then glance back uncertainly. "Will, um, Gaara-san be joining us?"

Surprised, Temari had to disguise her laugh as a cough. "Not if we're still hoping to negotiate peace," she deadpanned. Gaara didn't react. There was some truth to that statement. He had made significant improvement on social interaction in the months since he had re-examined his life. But negotiations were more suited to someone with more practice and a more nuanced understanding of rules like 'Don't kill someone who has something you want,' 'People don't like being reminded of their imminent mortality,' and 'Please don't smile like that, it frightens everyone.' (He had compromised by not smiling at all, which was still a bit unnerving.)

"Well…" Shizune cleared her throat. "Then feel free to explore Konoha, Gaara-san."

"Just meet me at the apartment for dinner?" Temari offered, knowing that he'd do what he felt like. He seemed to shrug. Then he was gone in a wisp of sand.

The obviously civilian receptionist gave a small curse, clutching at her chest. Temari wondered at that- she had never seen anyone below Chuunin in a similar job back home. Konoha was strange.

One newly-promoted Sand Chuunin, even the daughter of a Kazekage, was hilariously outgunned in the company of a Hokage and her two apprentices. So of course, the room was also populated by two hulking ANBU operatives. Seriously, Konoha must have found goons that big with a specially placed ad. Temari felt her plastered smile falter and did her best not to look too skeptical of the ice gently rotating in the clear pitcher of water in the center of the table. Logically, she knew that if they wanted her dead, they wouldn't poison her. That didn't help much when she knew that she had been the only delegate sent so that Sand could cut their losses if the Leaf decided that the damage they had caused outweighed whatever benefits an alliance would give them. She was technically qualified for this mission, but if the elders had possessed much faith in it, they would have come themselves.

'Then again,' Temari remembered with a sideways smile that seemed to offend the pretty-boy sitting across the table, 'the elders really hate Leaf from the last war still. They may not want this alliance to work out.' If she could make that happen, it would be a resounding victory for whatever side she threw her support behind. She wasn't formidable enough to make a bid for her father's hat herself just yet, but she knew damn well that her words carried weight.

"It was nice to meet you." Aiko gave a short bow to Ken's mother, a voluptuous woman with a pixie cut and heavily scarred hands. The door shut on her face after they exchanged a few niceties- thank you for taking care of my boy, thank you for the tea, so on and so forth. As soon as the door was closed, she took the opportunity to discreetly adjust that damned vest she was wearing. It was uncomfortable and unflattering. She wasn't entirely sure she liked it, even if it did signal that she wasn't a child.

After they had gone out on their second run to the closest outpost, they had been mildly surprised to receive orders to run messages to the next two outposts. From what she understood, people were being pulled home and border security finally relaxed from emergency status. Understandably, people had been happy to see her team. Her team had been less happy about spending an extra six nights in the wild, although there was enough space for them to take up beds at the last outpost for a night. There had been a throw-down fight over first rights to the showers. Aiko had laughed herself sick when they finally figured out that the water was all cold—the luxurious of home were hard to get in a forest.

By the time they returned to the village, the genin were finally comfortable enough with her to get a bit sassy. Before, they had been nearly silent in her presence. They must have been closer in the Academy than most of her classmates had been, because they had tons of inside jokes that they seemed to find absolutely hilarious. She'd been a bit bemused when they gradually became comfortable enough to have conversations around her, but generally just stayed silent and learned about them.

It turned out that Ken was a third-generation nin whose grandparents had come from Sand. They'd immediately changed their last name to something more suitable for Fire Country, but the boy bemoaned that his grandmother refused to adjust her way of speaking and actually artificially emphasized her accent to show that she wasn't ashamed of her girlhood home. It came up because Ken ended up translating whatever she said to his friends when they came over. Occasionally, he slipped and used terminology or slang that he'd picked up from her, and the girls liked to tease him about it.

Akira had reminded Aiko of Ino, but it soon became clear that the resemblance was only a superficial one—they were both snappy dressers and moved with confidence. Akira was actually very mature, and thought that her peers should be as well. Naruto might have liked her—she loved animals as much as he did. For her, that manifested in learning about them instead of catching and snuggling them as it did in Naruto (bless his heart). She could list the technical names and dietary habits of just about every creature native to Fire Country and kept a scrapbook of photos. To serve that end, she kept a camera with her at all times, lovingly wrapped up in a waterproof leather pouch. Her family must have a lot of means—such a thing was not cheap.

The student that Aiko had most misjudged was the last one. Emiko had seemed sweet and shy and dressed as bashfully as Hinata. Apparently, her daddy was a single father and wanted a little princess. The girlish wardrobe was his doing, not hers. Additionally, it soon became clear that her mind was sharp and her tongue even sharper. Her peers hadn't caught on yet, but every third bashful statement was in fact a veiled insult at their expense. She tried not to laugh too hard and instead made comments about Emiko's excellent vocabulary.

The last of her genin returned safely to their homes and mission report firmly in hand, Aiko was slightly travel worn and thirsty. She was also surprised to spot the boy who would be Kazekage looking a bit lost in front of Hokage tower, watching passers-by with an intensity that made several of them hustle. Shamefully, some of them were even ninja.

It was pretty funny, she admitted to herself. He wasn't even letting off killing intent. Maybe it was the month-old blood stains on his clothing that put them off. Or the dead-eyed stare. Or the fact that he had a Sand headband and appeared to be roaming unsupervised (she knew better. Tsunade would have ANBU tailing him).

For the first time, she realized that she knew very little about what happened to Gaara in the time between the Chuunin exams and his abduction by Akatsuki. Was he already the man who measured his words and hoped for peace? Did he still slip into madness? Or was he somewhere in between, in an amorphous state of becoming a man when he had been a monster instead of a boy?

'Only one way to find out,' she decided impulsively. It was a selfish decision to satisfy her curiosity, but a small one.

It was also possibly stupid. She held no grudge against him at all for attempting to kill her, especially since she didn't think it had been his fault. He wasn't responsible for Shukaku, or for her misusing what she knew about Naruto's nature. She had made the conscious decision to leap into the fray so that Naruto would find the strength to draw on the Nine-Tails and stop him, after all.

But she could hardly tell anyone else that she wasn't mad at him at all because she had just been using him to injure her, not least so because the Nine-Tails was kind of a taboo topic. Anyone with sense would probably be alarmed to see her spending time with him amiably.

Ah, to hell with it. She didn't care what anyone else thought.

Aiko idly crumpled her report and shoved it into a pocket, not minding the ugly way it bulged. She could take care of it later or something. 'The real question is how to approach him.' She was careful not to look at him too long and draw attention prematurely. Should she observe him from a distance? That could be dangerous- no ninja liked sneaky followers. Then again, he probably wasn't socially competent enough to have a regular conversation.

Then she rolled her eyes. 'What am I saying? If Naruto got through to him, being blunt and straight forward is my best shot.'

Aiko used shunshin to position herself at his side, already ready with a beaming smile and a raised hand when he turned slightly to look at her. "What's up, cutie-san? I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?"

He really was adorable when he gave her that mildly concussed stare, she noted. It was almost hard to believe that no one had ever flirted with him before. He kinda looked like a punk rocker, with the spiky hair and dark circles around his eyes. Granted, the fact that they weren't paint was a little off-putting when she really thought about it…

"You…" His eyes narrowed. "I remember you from the fight after the tournament. You are one of Naruto-san's teammates."

She huffed a surprised little laugh. "Uh, no," Aiko admitted, watching him carefully out of the edge of her vision while she channeled Naruto's sheepish head-scratch. "He's my otouto. I'm not really on his team, though." Apparently he didn't remember her from the tower… or that Naruto's team had lost their third member. Temari had known that and hinted at it to Ino—she'd raged about it later when she put it together—so Gaara must just not have paid any attention at all.

Somehow that didn't surprise her. When she'd last seen him, he didn't seem like a guy who spent a lot of time being interested in others' lives. It just wouldn't be compatible with a mindset that viewed killing everyone else as a good idea.

"So… you are one of his precious people?" Gaara examined her with unnerving intensity. If she hadn't intentionally manipulated what she knew of him to make him more amenable to her presence, Aiko might have been uncomfortable.

Instead, she pretended not to sense the awkward atmosphere at all. "Of course, and he's one of mine. Are you looking for something or someone?"

"No."

'Okay…' Aiko chewed on her bottom lip. It was awkward being the socially adept one in a conversation for once. He wasn't giving her much to go on, that was for sure. 'Well, fuck it. When in doubt, feed the boy.' It worked on such variant subjects as Naruto and Sasuke. Why the hell not on Gaara?

"Well then, let's go get smoothies. I just got back in town and I am parched." She telegraphed the motions obviously when she reached out to snag his hand and drag him along with her. The move was a risky but calculated one. Gaara might react violently to being touched, or he could view it as evidence that she wasn't treating him differently because of his demonic burden. Or he could just be confused by the presumption.

Luckily for her, the only sand she felt was the grainy barrier around his fingers like armor. The unnatural temperature made her grimace—touching what appeared to be a hand without body heat made her think of corpses.

"Your hands are cold," she complained good-naturedly, channeling her second favorite blonde now. Ino was a goddamn champion of herding around reluctant boys.

When he stiffened, she tightened her grip in apology. 'Right. The boy is sensitive', she noted. Then she mentally amended, dropping his hand to open the door to a café, 'More likely he isn't socially adept enough to know what to say. He's probably uncomfortable.' That wasn't the only possible hypothesis, but it was the one that best explained why he was susceptible to Naruto's particular brand of philosophy. Doubtless Naruto had never even noticed the bodily and verbal cues that indicated Gaara's mood and had barreled right over them. Gaara might like feeling normal—a feeling that could only be inspired by meeting another jinchuuriki who socialized much more healthily and gave him the realization that he could have friends and family like anyone else. She could take advantage of that desire by treating him as if he was anyone else, she concluded.

Lucky that had been her plan in the first place.

Granted, in treating him as if he were anyone else, she actually had to make exceptions. If she had met a random stranger who stared the way he did, was clearly uncomfortable, and spoke in near monosyllables if at all, she would have decided that the conversation wasn't worth the effort and disengaged. It was a bit like calmly holding a conversation with Gai—you pretended that the shouting was completely normal and parsed through the flowery language to get at the meaning and responded to only that. With Gaara, you pretended his reticence wasn't a faux-pas and drew meaning from what little he said and the volumes he didn't say.

It was an art form, she decided while pointedly not coaxing him to eat the peach and mango smoothie she set in front of him. She wouldn't acknowledge that he didn't know what to do with it or that he seemed to think it might be poisoned. When she picked up her spoon and began to eat in between absently maintaining a conversation about her ducklings, she noticed with some triumph that he focused a laser-like gaze on her hand for a few minutes before he picked up his own spoon and flawlessly imitated her.

She would have been confused if not for the fact that she had never seen a single spoon in Suna, only chopsticks. It just wasn't a cultural norm. Soup was eaten from a tilted bowl, and cold treats like ice cream just weren't likely to happen there.

After a while, when it became clear that he at least wasn't ignoring her talk about her team—both her duckling and team seven—she tried to get him to contribute to the conversation. Of course, that was tricky. He didn't have friends to tell stories about, and doubtlessly he was getting to know his siblings for the first time in his life. So she didn't dig too deeply.

"Is your team here too?"

That appeared to be a question he couldn't answer with either a nod or a blank stare, so she counted it as a success. Granted, "Kankuro did not come," wasn't going to be winning any prizes for eloquence, but it was enough that she considered it contribution to dialogue.

"Did you want to see any of the sights while you're in town?" she asked lightly. "There's a big merchant caravan that moved in about a week ago. They're only going to be here for another week. It's actually pretty cool. And one of the Academy classes is putting on a traditional dance performance as part of their infiltration final."

That had made her laugh until she was sick again. If her teacher had tried to do that, she would have caused him serious bodily harm. The dance and other similar classes were often taught by civilian experts so that they could be sure what they were teaching was both current and accurate. It wouldn't do to pass down ninja interpretations of civilian dance and ignore that things changed. They were often likely to consider public performance a necessary part of proving students had mastered the material- a faux geisha who was crowd shy would fool no one. Regardless of how intelligent the idea actually was, the students would probably hate it. She was pretty sure that the grumpy faces would be the best part of the performance.

Gaara looked at her as if she'd suggested they go streaking after they finished their treats.

"Or the water is really nice at the mixed onsen," she changed tracks, lips twitching with amusement. "I like to get a good book and soak for hours. I bet you don't spend much time relaxing in water in Suna."

"I do not," he reluctantly agreed. And that was all he said. The door to the café banged open, bells chiming irritably and roughly a half second later Aiko was blinking up at Inuzuka Kiba. It would have been a more pleasant surprise if he (and Akamaru perched on his head) hadn't been growling at Gaara, lips curled aggressively.

Aiko groaned, covering her face with her hands. And things had been going so well, too. Kiba was going to put Gaara back on edge after she'd finally coaxed him into relaxing slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Kiba placed both hands on the table and leaned forward into Gaara's personal space.

The redhead didn't take it well, trickles of sand beginning to agitate. His face remained blank, but he crossed his arms. It was somehow intimidating, even though he had to put down his ice cream first to make the motion.

"Whoa, boys," Aiko interrupted, placing a palm up. "Calm down. Kiba, it's nice to see you. It'd be nicer if you sat down instead of glared at us from up there." She scooted over and patted the bench next to her. Kiba's attention drifted to her, and a strange look crossed his face for a moment. Then it passed.

"I don't want to sit with him!" Kiba practically yelled, pointing at Gaara.

The other boy stood. Aiko noted absently that his full height was at least four inches below Kiba's. Of course, they were finally at the age where boys hit their growth spurts, so maybe Gaara just hadn't had his yet. Chakra swelled, and then Gaara was gone. Aiko blinked at the space where he'd been for a moment, not quite registering what had happened. Then she felt that damn twitch in her right eye and forcibly relaxed her face. Aiko wasn't entirely sure when she had developed a nervous twitch, but she was trying to catch it when it happened.

'It's fine.' She took a deep breath, pushing her ice cream away. 'Kiba didn't know any better. If I saw a peer sitting closely to someone who had tried to kill them the last time they'd met, I might demonstrate alarm as well.' Really, his concern for a peer who was a near-stranger should be used as evidence for the claim that Kiba was a good guy.

So instead of expressing her irritation with him—he'd ruined her information gathering session—she merely said, "Hello again, Kiba."

And then the weirdo blushed.

It turned out that Konoha wanted powerful allies slightly more than they wanted revenge. Temari had to swallow her pride, because at the moment Suna couldn't be a powerful ally to anyone, and agree to accept several personnel on a short-term basis to fill out their ranks and help them take all their mission requests. Nothing urgent or information sensitive, of course, but several administrators to help the hospital run more smoothly and free up medic nin for missions would be provided as well as a few lower class missions that would be sub-contracted out to Konoha.

That was a bitter remedy to have to accept—they desperately needed the money those missions could provide, but they couldn't fulfill them on their own. Konoha would be pocketing the money from those missions, of course, but this way they wouldn't end up failing to meet the terms of their arrangement with the Wind Daimyo by failing to accept all the missions from his people.

Because the Hokage was a medic, part of her terms had been sample specimen of a few plants and poisonous desert animals that Temari was vaguely aware Kankuro used in his poison compounds.

The elders would be infuriated—the move would cement their alliance by making it much more difficult for Sand to ever turn on Konoha. Their monopoly on many rare and deadly ingredients had been one of the things keeping them from being crushed under the heel of bigger villages. Without samples, it was almost impossible for remedies to be made for Suna poison.

But Temari had seen no other option. If she had rejected the offer, Konoha could have come in and crushed them and taken the damn plants anyways. It would be a pyrrhic victory—Sand was too inhospitable and entrenched for them to lose without taking out massive casualties, the only reason Konoha hadn't marched on them the day after that failed invasion. There was almost no chance that Konoha would lose, but they would be severely weakened afterwards and easy prey for other villages.

That knowledge was the only reason Temari knew she could negotiate from a position of strength as well, although her counterparts had clearly been hoping she was unaware of that nuance. It was possible for her to push Konoha into being obligated to start a war with Suna, but that was an unpleasant prospect for both sides. So she used that little leverage on issues that she found were important—like having Konoha maintain higher levels of border security so that Sand didn't have to. It was both a show of trust and so that Sand could free up experienced nin.

When she'd made that suggestion, the lady Tsunade's lips had twitched in amusement for the first time, and Temari thought she recognized a fellow predator. The Hokage had been raised to be politically astute due to her relation to a Kage as well. Very few ninja were—it was something that their civilian counterparts had mastered, but when villages were often led by those with the most physical power, well… often they were more likely to use their muscles than their brains.

Whatever the reason, Tsunade had accepted the proposal and several others. Temari knew damn well that the elders would be apoplectic with rage, but she wasn't going to support any one of them for Kazekage. They would find that out soon enough.

She had a different candidate in mind. Gaara had latched onto Uzumaki Naruto's goals with a one-minded focus, and was already a completely different person than he had been half a year ago. Having a direction was doing him good. Besides, he was really the only person in their village with the power to really lay claim to the title.

He wasn't ready yet, of course. But once she could be sure that he really had changed- she did owe that much to the citizens of Suna- and that his image was changing as well, she would speak to him about it.

Temari pushed the door open and flopped down on the couch of the luxurious, air conditioned suite she had been assigned as a diplomat, idly calling out for her brother. She didn't really expect him to be there or to walk into the room.

It was even less expected that he would be the first to speak. Granted, it was Gaara, so it wasn't an impressive start.

"You look well."

Temari blinked up at the ceiling, then tilted her head to make sure everything was in place. "Um, thank you," she said a bit dumbly. Then she cleared her throat. "The meeting went well," she informed, knowing that if she wanted to make him Kazekage he had to have some interest in goings-on like this. "Looks like we're allies for sure now. Did you do anything interesting?"

The last question was more for form's sake than anything else. It was Gaara- he never did anything interesting. He probably stared at the sun for a few hours, or people-watched, or just thought about the complexities of life. In fact, he probably-

"I had ice cream with a girl."

Temari sat up so fast she gave herself whiplash. That required some contextualization.

"Whuh… what happened?" she said weakly. Gaara with a girl? It almost had to be a misunderstanding. That didn't make sense.

"A boy showed up and was clearly agitated with my presence, so I left" Gaara monotoned. Temari was so baffled that she wanted to cry. That… that certainly sounded like he'd somehow gotten involved in a love triangle, or at least stepped on someone's toes by flirting with their girl. But that was the least Gaara-like thing she'd ever heard of. How on earth did he end up spending time socially with a girl? She'd never even been on a date—did that mean her youngest brother had been the first in their family to get a date? 'At least choosing to leave is a definite improvement over how he would have dealt with that a while ago,' some part of her brain noted. That was downright mature, actually.

Suddenly, the triumphs she'd made in the last day were less important than the fact that there was somebody out there Gaara had an interest in. Temari swallowed, hard. What monstrous kind of girl would Gaara find interesting?

"What," Jiraiya said flatly, unintentionally releasing a bit of killing intent. The dark haired man he'd been talking to stiffened reflexively, fingers twitching as if he wanted to reach for a weapon. He was intelligent enough not to, however.

It had apparently been a bad intelligence report to bring Naruto on, some distant part of his mind noted. Part of the stipulation for training Naruto had been giving him the chance to learn the trade and gain some of his own contacts. Jiraiya couldn't do it alone forever, after all. He'd thought that Naruto was ready to at least start sitting in on these meetings.

'Luckily, he's too clueless to realize who we're talking about,' the sannin noted with black humor.

The man who had claimed to be Akira (almost certainly a code name, even Naruto knew) carefully restated his last sentence. The one where he'd mentioned Rock had quietly put out a sizable bounty on a Konoha kunoichi using chakra chains, despite the fact that the countries weren't at war and she hadn't apparently done anything particularly offensive yet. It wasn't exactly politically appropriate, but the Rock had hated Aiko's parents enough that little things like that didn't stop them from wanting her dead before she hit her prime.

Aiko hadn't been named, of course. Akira probably hadn't thought the name important enough to mention when he had a copy of the bounty to hand over with all the pertinent information. Jiraiya snatched it up impatiently and examined the information, not sure if he was pleased or depressed to see that Uzumaki Aiko had been tentatively assessed as a B-rank shinobi with at least one A-rank skill. He'd never seen her in action, but she had two years more of field experience than his Uzumaki. It shouldn't be too surprising that she was stronger than her brother. If this was true, she was strong but not nearly strong enough to protect herself from the type of monsters who would be willing to take on a bounty like that.

He took a moment to hope like hell that Kakashi was keeping an eye on the kid. Hatake and Tsunade were the only two people other than himself that he'd trust to keep her out of that kind of trouble, and Tsunade was a bit busy adjusting to her new hat.

'Maybe this is what Itachi knew about?' Jiraiya hypothesized. But that didn't quite make sense either. Why would Itachi view Uzumaki chakra as a threat or worthy of notice? And it seemed impossible that Itachi could have known about Aiko's apparent ability before Jiraiya did (although he wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if he'd beat Rock to the clue party, even with the stigma of being a genocidal missing nin. Rock couldn't find their asses with both hands, generally speaking).

Surely he would have been told if the girl had managed to master chakra chains before he had taken Naruto. Wouldn't Naruto know?

He cast a glance to his student and suppressed a groan. For once, the brat was paying attention, knuckles clenched tightly and lips pressed into a hard expression. 'So maybe he does know what chakra chains are,' Jiraiya concluded heavily. Naruto might not know it, but any veteran of the last war would know to associate chakra chains with both the Uzumaki clan in general and Kushina in particular.

#vapors #uzumaki aiko #electrasev5n #ninja daily #fanfiction #naruto fanfiction

3 notes · View notes

farlighthouse · 3 years

Text

You Can’t See Me

I was working on a perfectly self-indulgent piece when I got hit by the 2x4 that is @myheadinthecloudsnotcomingdown‘s Discord server. That is my excuse and I’m sticking with it!

What is this you may ask? Someone said that Toru Hagakure must be a descendant of famous pro-wrestler “You Can’t See Me” John Cena. Yes. How do you think she passed the entrance exam?

This idea would. not. leave. my. brain. Now it cannot leave yours. You’re welcome!

#bnha #toru hagakure #john cena #why am i like this #is everyone's reference folder cursed or is it just me #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #hagakure tooru

98 notes · View notes

xxlost-cityxx · 3 years

Text

ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS

Ship/Characters: Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki

TW/CW: Rough anal sex, virgin Katsuki Bakugou, slight choking, slight piss kink/bladder control, brief spanking, rimming, bottom Katsuki, dom Kirishima, begging, crying, anal fingering, degredation and praise

I posted this on Ao3 literally last night, so enjoy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stupid fucking Kirishima with his stupid fucking face and stupid fucking body-

Again. Once-a-fucking-gain. Katsuki was hard at work. Kirishima had simply aided Katsuki in a surprisingly powerful villain attack- even though everyone knew Dynamight had it under control. But Eijirou's help...made it easier to take down the villain- NOT that Katsuki needed his help in the first place.

The villain landed a hit on Katsuki and he flew into a pile of concrete and wooden rubble, and the next thing he saw was Red Riot, unhardened, nearly body slamming the guy into a wall, digging his forearm and elbow into his neck and his knee between his legs. It looked painful for the villain and it looked like Ejirou was definitely holding back from completely crushing the dude's balls...But. The way Kirishima was looking at the guy, a stone cold face, a deadly glare he hasn't seen since the last time Eijirou had heard Monama talk back in U.A. He was mad. And Gods if that sight didn't make him pop a boner-

So now here he was. Virgin Katsuki pretending he was too good to be around all his druken friends who were surely getting laid tonight, meanwhile, all Katuski would do tonight is ride his dildo until the sun came up.

Bakugou couldn't jack off. It wasn't really a fact, but he's pretty sure that any man would avoid jacking off with even a small risk that you might blow your own dick off, especially if you were gay. Gods bless the prostate. And really, it takes forever to cum riding 6 inches of colored silicone without touching your dick, but the point was, it got the job done and no one knew his secret to having 'thunder thighs' or some shit. He still remembers the first interveiwer who asked about his leg day routine, stating that he had entranced everyone with his thighs or some shit. He never thought he'd be referred to as 'thick' or whatever it was.

He took another shot of vodka, ignoring the pestering jealousy as he watched Kirishima dance with Denki. It was obviously platonic, not only did they repeatedly state in multible interviews that they were 'strictly bromance' and that they liked fucking with their fans's minds, Denki was dating Dead Eyes and Earphones.

Bakugou wasn't even a little tipsy really, it took a lot to get him drunk. It took a lot to get any of them drunk, but that didn't stop anyone from trying. But Bakugou wasn't going to go home drunk and have drunken masturbation for 5 hours, never was his thing. So he'd stick to being sober for tonight.

He growled as Kirishima's hand was on Denki's hip, Kaminari's back against Eijirou's chest. The much smaller blonde wiggled his hips against Kirishima's surely soft dick. Sero and Mina were laughing their asses off from their seats, Denki smirking and trying to be as dramatic and intimate as he could, a few phones recording them.

Katsuki growled to himself, slamming the shot glass on the bar top so hard it slightly cracked. He stood up and grabbed his coat, oblivious to how red eyes quickly switched from watching the smiling and laughing faces of his friends to laser focused on the ash blonde in a split second.

As Katsuki left the bar, he grumbled to himself until he was outside his place.

An hour later, he was panting. It felt like his entire body was covered in lube by the time he was bouncing on the silicone properly. He frowned, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt the head bump into his prostate with practiced movements, usually a feeling that would have him gasping and shuttering, but he wanted this cock to be Kirishima's. He was sick and tired of riding an inanimate object that didn't praise him, didn't make noise, didn't cum. He wanted to be pinned and fucked so hard he would have to call off work the next day.

He whimpered as his toned thighs easily let him travel up and down the silicone. Silicone. He couldn't even get himself hard, he was soft, even with his ass stuffed and his prostate stimulated, he was soft. There wasn't a twitch, and even his prostate felt dull.

He groaned to himself, sliding off the dildo and reaching for his phone. He quickly unlocked it and pulled up his gallery with his singular 'clean' finger, quickly going to his hidden folder and clicking on the picture that always got him hard. Kirishima did a photoshoot nearly 6 months ago, he was in a kimono that was completely opened with white pants that banded to his stomach. He stared at Katsuki through the picture, a belt in his big, tanned hand. He already felt his cock harden slightly, a small frown painting his face as that was like a weak attempt at mimicking his usual reaction to the picture.

He slid back on the dildo propping his phone against his wall and started bouncing. He imagined those toned hands sliding against his back, barely touching him, and it was almost like he could feel it, his body twitching with slight interest. He imagined his voice, telling him to ride the dildo, training his hole for what was surely a monster cock, Eijirou too nice to let Katsuki destroy himself on his cock right off the bat...unless… What if he would just fuck him? And that got his reaction. His dick was fully hard now, but it wasn't aching with need like usual.

What if Eijirou would slam into him as soon as the dildo was out? Would he let Katsuki adjust, or would he pound him into oblivion with the raw power his body held?

He let out a moan, but the pleasure didn't last long as his phone started ringing. He nearly flinched, scowling at his phone for ruining what he worked hard for, but his face sofened as it was Kirishima calling him.

His mouth went dry, his eyes slightly wide. He doesn't know what really compelled him to answer the phone, but as Kirishima's voice rang through the other end, he couldn't help but bite his lip and shift on the dildo. "W-What do you need, Dumbass?" He asked, cursing himself for starting his sentence off weak. "Haha- Hey, Kat! I just wanted to made sure you were okay. You hit that rubble pretty hard today, and you left earlier than usual." His cheery, sober, voice said. Katsuki closed his eyes, slowly rolling his hips up the dildo, the familiar arousal burning in his stomach, finally.

He stifled a whimper, "M' fine, Shitty Hair…." He pretended to grumble out, desperate to think of something to keep him on the line as long as possible. "That's great! I was a little worried, y'know. Didn't want to lose the manliest man I've even known since highschool!" He said, and Bakugou's heart did a mixture of dropping and fluttering. He felt guilty for trying to get off to his voice, clearly ignorant and innocent, but he couldn't help but acknowledge that he didn't refer to him as his best friend which would usually put him down. He squeezed his eyes shut and rolled his hips, gasping as he accidentally his his prostate. He dropping the phone, slapping a hand over his face. "Katsuki!? What was that?" Kirishima urgently called. Bakugou's dick was on fire, his body was alight with arousal, if only Kirishima knew.

He hesitantly picked up the phone. "I'm f-fine~ Shitty Hair!" He replied, cursing himself for not stopping himself from slowly bouncing on the dildo again.

Silence.

He slightly wondered if he accidentally hung up, but there was still static. "I'm not stupid, Katsuki." Kirishima suddenly said. Bakugou froze. His voice was lower but soft, almost like he was hesitant to say it in the first place. "W-..What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, not daring to move on the dildo, even though he wanted to take advantage of Kirishima's tone so fucking bad.

"Are you getting off right now?" Kirishima asked, Bakugou suddenly became aware of how slick and schelchy the lube was. Bakugou's throat closed up, his mouth too dry to produce words. "Fuck…" Kirishima whispered, the sound making Bakugou's eyes widen. "Are you trying to fuck with me…?" He asked, but Bakugou wasn't deaf to the distant sound of Kirishima nearly break checking himself.

Bakugou whimpered quietly, but a part of him prayed that Kirishima heard him, and as his breath hitched over the phone, he knew he did.

"Fuck-" Kirishima groaned. Bakugou gasped at the sound, bouncing on the plastic lightly once again, the lewd noises surely reaching the phone. "C-Come over." Bakugou's stern voice said, once again sounding weak in the beginning. "Already on my way." Kirishima nearly whispered back.

Bakugou's body was on fire, every part of him was twitching. The call ended only a minute ago, and suddenly Bakugou's night was going to change who he was. He was hard, nervous, excited but horny above all else. As soon as he heard his front door open and nearly slam shut, Bakugou gasped, trying to let out his nerves. Heavy, fast footsteps made their way down his halls, and suddenly Bakugou was conscious about how he should present himself.

He didn't have time, and so he let himself be cocky, leaning forward on his hands, arching his back and rolling his hips on the silicone gracefully, and it probably looked a little too good based on how smooth the action felt. But he didn't have room for his usual pride, Kirishima was stuck in the doorway with his mouth slightly open and wide eyes. Bakugou looked at him in the mirror to his side, and his eyes were staring at him.

"Holy fuck.." He groaned, his hand slowly moving to his crotch, but he gripped the inside of his thigh. Mid. Thigh.

Bakugou's eyes widened as he finally had the rough sketch of Eijirou's cock in his mind, and fuck he wanted to go stupid with cock.

"C'mon…" Bakugou nearly whimpered, rolling his hips a little more dramatically. Kirishima groaned in the doorway, slowly walking into the room, Bakugou's position giving him the perfect view of his pink, glistening and stretched hole swallowing the silicone easily, the dildo's girth seemed pathetic to what Eijirou knew he had.

Eijirou knelt down behind him, and as Katsuki smiled, expecting him to caress his body, that didn't happen.

Kirishima quickly wrapped his hand around the smaller man's throat, yanking him back to meet his still clothed chest. Bakugou wheezed at the unexpected and sudden movement, but fuck if his own cock didn't love it already.

"Riding this pathetic dildo while I was out there concerned about you, hm?" He darkly whispered, his finger tips lightly digging into his neck. Bakugou whimpered, wiggling his hips back, trying to get a feel for the man's clothed cock for himself. Kirishima sighed, almost in disappointment. "Tell me.. What were you thinking about? Riding this pathetic excuse of a dildo." He asked, talking right into Bakugou's ear. Bakugou let out a stuttering breath, squirming in Kirishima's sturdy grip.

"Tell me."

Bakugou gasped at his dark tone paired with his hand gripping his entire neck roughly. He wasn't used to feeling so small compared to someone else, but fuck he was loving it.

"Y-You…" Bakugou gasped out as Kirishima loosened his grip just enough. "What about me..?" He asked, only slightly softer.

Katsuki's cock was aching, begging for the same attention Eijirou was giving his throat. "H-How hard you would fuck me- How big your cock is…" Bakugou finally admitted, squeezing his eyes shut.

Kirishima hummed in his ear, his hand moving to the back of Bakugou's neck instead and pulling him up to his feet. Bakugou let out a guttural moan as he was ripped off the dildo still suctioned to the floor.

Kirishima hummed, noting how the dildo really did look like a pathetic version of himself.

Kirishima dragged Bakugou to his bed, glaring at the blonde when he tried to move. He pulled off his own shirt and pants quickly before joining him on the bed. Bakugou's eyes quickly widened at the sight, his mouth slightly open and his face slightly filled with fear and shock, but quickly replaced with determination. "Better fucking prep me, asshole." Bakugou spit out, laying on his back.

He didn't expect Kirishima's rough nature to continue though. Eijirou glared at Bakugou before swiftly gripping his neck and pinning him further into the mattress. "Excuse you? Who the fuck do you think you're talking to right now? Order me around again, I fucking dare you." Kirishima spit out a look of fake disgust on his face. Bakugou was shocked by the moan that left him, more than happy with his decisions from tonight, at least so far.

He yelped as Kirishima's hand left his neck and grabbed his hips instead. Kirishima pulled his ass into the air, Bakugou's legs spreading automatically, falling to almost meet his chest. "W-What are you gonna do?" Bakugou asked, eyes wide with arousal. "None of your fucking buisness." Kirishima spit out, digging his thumbs into the stretched pink muscle. Bakugou gasped as Eijirou pulled his rim apart, testing just how stretched he was.

Bakugou saw his cock when he took off his pants, the way it weighed itself down, how his fingertips would definetly have trouble touching each other, and the fucking length- he wondered if Kirishima would actually show through his stomach…

As Kirishima added a finger to stretch and play with his rim, he decided to take down the roughness, only for a couple seconds though. "Use the traffic light system, okay?" He almost ordered, wanting to keep the same sexual energy but also let Bakugou know there was a safe way out. Bakugou's breath stuttered and he quickly nodded, having read enough fanfiction about being fucked by Kirishima and having done enough research to know something as simple as the traffic light system, and he's so fucking green.

Bakugou didn't expect a tongue to enter him though.

Bakugou nearly shouted, gripping at the sheets before pathetically trying to reach for the other man's head. "N-No!" Bakugou shouted, but it was moan filled and an empty request. Kirishima's eyes shifted to Bakugou, lapping his tongue over the blonde's rim before softly shoving it inside as far as he could.

Bakugou was squirming around at the foregin feeling, gasping every time he moved his tongue, it felt so warm, soft and perfectly wet.

Kirishima took his mouth away, licking his lips as he roughly slammed 3 fingers into the unsuspecting hole. He quickly spread them as far as he could, Bakugou's gasp turning into a pained moan. As Kirishima softly stroked his slightly pulsing insides, Bakugou was panting with wide eyes. "Beg." Kirishima ordered darkly, jamming his fingers into Bakugou as far as he could, hitting his prostate hard.

Bakugou moaned out, caving in on himself because of how Kirishima held his ass up. But he wouldn't beg.

After a few seconds of soft finger thrusting and no begging, Kirishima picked up the pace, slipping one of his fingers out, knowing Katsuki won't like the lack of fullness anymore. He jams his fingers into his prostate every time, Bakugou's eyes nearly crossing as he tries to arch his back but just keeps caving in on himself.

"Fucking. Beg." "F-Fuck you.." Bakugou responds, his voice shakey, the defiance fake and fragile. Kirishima's eyes narrow, a frown forming on his lips. "Fine." He replies, shifting one hand to Bakugou's abdomen and pressing, pleased with the slight fullness under a specific layer of muscle. He continued to slam into his g-spot, Bakugou's eyes widening and getting slightly watery. "W-Wait-!" Bakugou moaned out loud, slight panic coating his oh so beautiful face. The tip of his penis kept rubbing against Kirishima's arm, and he knew so much stimulation was working against him. He was either going to beg or piss himself.

"S-Stop! Too much- T-Too fucking much! I have to go you f-fuckkk-ing lunatic!" He moaned out, grabbing at Kirishima's arms. "Beg. Beg for me to fuck you, or you're going to piss yourself, get your clean sheets dirty, all unsatisfied and embarrassed. Poor little Katsuki couldn't hold his little blatter while I fucked you with my fingers." Eijirou cooed, tiliting his head a little before bending down and licking along the back of his thigh to the crease of his ass. He travels up to his sack and licks him firmly with the flat of his tongue.

Katsuki screams.

His clawing becomes frantic, and he's sure he's sobbing, but he's no match for even Kirishima's strength. "N-No! Ei- Stop! I-I'm gonna pee!" Katsuki cries, thrashing around as much as he can. But as Eijirou gently sucks in one of his balls, his resolve snaps. "Please! Please, please, please!" Katsuki finally cries, Eijirou's fingers slowing down and his hand letting up on his blatter. He moves away from Katsuki's cock and smirks down at the red and teary face below him.

"Please what?" He asks, Bakugou's eyes widening. "P...Please… Please fuck me… I want you to fuck me with your fat cock!" He cries, tears falling from his eyes.

Eijirou sighs, content with his work. "Good boy~" He coos, swiftly plunging 2 more fingers inside and spreading them. Katsuki gasps, looking up at Kirishima who refuses to look away from his face.

As Kirishima slowly pulls out, he bends over and grabs the lube from the floor, popping open the cap and pouring it into Katsuki. He flinches and wines at how cold it is, and Eijirou just travels the bottle to his cock, rubbing his hand over it and coating everything with lube.

As he sloppily closes the bottle, he moves Katsuki onto his stomach, Bakugou groaning as he was finally out of that horrid position.

Kirishima places the tip at his entrance, kissing Bakugou's nape, and right as Bakugou prepares for a dreadfully slow slide. Kirishima slams into the hilt. Bakugou's eyes shoot wide and his thrusted up further into the bed with the force, his mouth dropping open as a horrid moan filled scream leaves him.

This is it….he's not a virgin anymore…

He feels nothing but cock, painfully perfect cock that makes it hard to breathe.

Kirishima groans at the tight feeling, his body shaking as he convinces himself not to fuck Katsuki into oblivion.

Eijirou starts off slow, dragging his cock out halfway before pressing in again, the pace making them both groan. God, Katsuki's back tooks so fucking pretty all arched like that, delicate but strong all in one. He always knew Bakugou would look so pretty with his face burried in sheets, his ass high in the air and filled with his cock.

He feels himself slipping, his thrusts slipping into violent, angry lust every so often before he catches himself quickly.

But as Katsuki's sweet moans keep reaching his ears, he finally gives in, grabbing Katsuki's wrists and pulling them back, lifting Katsuki off the bed and using his wrists as leverage, pulling his weak body back onto his cock as he slams his hips into the man's ass.

"Holy fucking shit~" Bakugou's voice calls out as Kirishima's thrusts get rougher, violent. His voice bounced with the thrusts, his moans cutting each other off as Kirishima no longer cares about hitting the man's prostate, pounding into him purely for selfish pleasure Bakugou didn't know he was capable of.

"Fucking pathetic cocksleeve- Such a fucking whore for dick, huh? You fucking-love! -taking my fat cock like this!" Kirishima spits out, pulling on Katsuki's wrists harder. Bakugou's eyes are crossing, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

'Ruining me-'

"Not a single thought going through that head of yours, huh? Just taking my cock so good like this, loving how I ruin every other cock out there for you! Only my cock can make you cum, can make you feel so fucking good!" "Y-Yes~" Bakugou's broken voice cries out, tears sliding down his cheeks.

The bed is slamming into the wall so hard the pictures are rattling, and Bakugou can't register anything but cock, pleasure, Kirishima and cumming.

"So fucking good, so~ fUCKing go-od~" Bakugou sobs, not caring of the searing pain in his arms and shoulder blades. But as Kirishima angles his hips, he starts slamming into Bakugou's prostate, and as Bakugou tries to arch in Kirishima's hold, he cums. He clamps around his cock so hard Kirishima moans, letting go of Katsuki's arms and letting him fall face first into the bed as his entire body rocks with unbroken thrusts, shaking with the ongoing orgasm that never seems to end. Eijirou hears the sobbing and groans with pleasure, swinging his hand down to Bakugou's ass, growling as he watches the muscle and fat ripple with the perfect impact.

Kirishima puts his hands in the curve of Katsuki's spine, pressing him down and shifting forward, slightly sitting back on his calves as he jackhammers into Bakugou's swollen, red and oh so fucking soft boy cunt.

Katsuki is screaming but it's so distant to Eijirou, all he can hear is the squelching of his ass and all he can think of is cumming.

"FUCK- EIJIROU~" Katsuki screams, sobbing and begging for him to slow down, not to thrust so hard, not to be so brutal. He can't feel his limbs, all he can feel is the overstimulation as his body is pounded so hard he inches forward on his bed, only to be pulled back just as quickly. He feels like a cocksleeve because he is one.

Kirishima groans, finally slamming into Katsuki with all he has, his cock pulsing inside Bakugou almost like a slow vibrator. As Kirishima completely fills Katsuki's intestines with cum, his own cock spurts out a pathetic amount of it's own cum, his balls drawing up tight and his cock twitching with painful interest.

Kirishima and Bakugou are panting, and as Eijirou gives another overstimulated thrust for good measure, the both moan out.

"F-Fuck…." Kirishima groans, Katsuki panting into the sheets with wide, tired eyes.

He really did ruin Katsuki's chances at fucking anyone else. There's no way he can go back to toys, and there's no way he can fuck anyone else.

#bakugou #bakugou katsuki #bnha imagines #kirishima #kirishima eijiro #kiribaku #kiribaku thirst #kiribaku smut #mha smut #mha thirst #bnha smut #bnha thirsts #kirishima thirst #bakugou smut #bakugou thirst #mha oneshot #smut #aged up

622 notes · View notes

ravennm84 · 3 years

Text

Doctor’s Note

We all know how Lila fakes having different diseases and medical problems, but what would happen if she actually got sick and her mother went to the school to drop off a doctor’s note and pick up Lila’s assignments? Want the answer? Warm-Fuzzies and please enjoy!

Greta Rossi could admit that she was a bit of a workaholic. Being the secretary to the assistant ambassador of Italy, in a city that was constantly under attack by a magical terrorist, was not the easiest job in the world either. It took a lot of early mornings, late nights, and even some weekends to make sure everything was prepared for her boss. But that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t drop everything for her one and only daughter when she needed her.

Right now, for example, Lila was trapped in bed with a nasty case of strep throat. The poor girl had a fever, white pustules at the back of her throat, and could hardly stop coughing. It was only due to some very strong medicine that she was able to stop coughing long enough to pass out from exhaustion.

She had contacted her work to let them know she would be taking the week off, and the ambassador had been very understanding. Stressing that he knew how dedicated she was to her work and that it was good for her to take time off for her family. It was only after Lila was sound asleep that she made the phone call to her school, she wanted to make sure they knew why Lila was staying home and that she would be in later that afternoon to pick up her daughter’s assignments for the next week.

The principal, M. Damocles was his name, seemed very happy to have spoken to her and said that he would have her assignments waiting when she came to pick them up. Also, if she could bring the doctors’ notes with her, that would be very much appreciated.

Checking again that Lila was sound asleep, she left a note on her daughter’s bedside table that she was running some errands, would be home soon, and to text her if she needed anything.

Arriving at the school, she was surprised to see everything running so smoothly and that the reconstruction after the two month akuma attack had been gone so well. She was impressed that she couldn’t even tell the difference between the old and new parts of the building. But then, she wasn’t overly skilled with architecture or building construction, so that wasn’t a surprise to her.

A few knocks on the door and she entered M. Damocles office. She had only met the man a couple times, but he had seemed like a decent person. It was a shame that he had been akumatized for so long and she was curious about what had happened to cause him to be akumatized, but she wasn’t sure if it was proper to ask him.

“Mme. Rossi, good to see you. I understand that Lila has fallen ill?” He asked, spinning around to grab a blue folder behind his desk.

“Yes, the poor dear has strep throat and has been coughing nonstop for days.” Greta told him as she pulled the doctor’s note from her purse. “Here’s the note you requested, do you have her homework packet?”

Damocles looked over the note for a moment before nodding and looking at her expectantly. “Thank you, do you have her other doctor’s notes?”

Greta tilted her head in confusion. “Does she need more than one? It’s just strep throat, she should be back to school after next week.”

“No madam, this is all I need for her current leave from school. I was referring to the doctor’s notes for her tinnitus, arthritis, sprained wrist, and her lying disease. That last one especially, and any information you can give me on accommodating that one so we do not have a repeat of the incident last month.”

Nothing in the world could have kept her jaw from dropping. What he had just told her? “M. Damocles, everything you just said is completely false. Lila has no such ailments, and I don’t think there is such a thing as a lying disease, unless you are referring to pathological lying.”

The man blinked back at her a few times before raising one hand to rub his brow. “Oh my, Mme. Rossi, I believe you and I must have a long discussion about the things your daughter has been saying and doing since she started school here.”

Her legs were stiff as she lowered herself into a chair, a sick feeling growing in her stomach as M. Damocles pulled a different folder out from his desk.

~oOo~

Over two hours later, many truths had finally come out.

1) The school had never closed for months due to akumas.

2) When M. Damocles had been akumatized, it had been at night and did no damage to the school.

3) Greta was not the ambassador, but a secretary.

4) Lila did not suffer from any diseases.

5) They had been in Paris since Lila had started school, no globetrotting whatsoever.

6) She and her husband were not estranged, he had simply wanted to stay at his dream job in Venice and she would never force him to leave it for her temporary assignment here in Paris.

7) Lila’s grandmother was alive and had never owned or given Lila a foxtail necklace.

8) The phone number on file was Lila’s number, not Greta’s. And the email was supposed to be ‘.gov’ not ‘.com’.

Damocles had also called one of Lila’s classmates to his office, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. When the principal told Greta about the incident from the previous month, she was shocked. Then Marinette told them her side of the story; all the lies, the threats, and finally setting the poor girl up to be expelled. Greta had never been so angry with her daughter in her life. Sure, she had been a good little story teller and actress when she was little, but she never would have thought she could be so cruel.

By the end of her explanation, Marinette was practically in tears.

When she mentioned that Adrien Agreste also knew of Lila’s lies, he was called to the office as well. He was a little more reluctant to talk about what Lila had been saying, but Greta insisted that she wanted to know what her daughter had been doing since coming to school, so he told her. If she hadn’t been disgusted before, she definitely was now. Getting Adrien’s father’s employees in trouble, lying about being friends with Ladybug all while telling Greta that she was a useless hero, sexually harassing Adrien while the boy didn’t even realize that was what she was doing to him. She had become a Gabriel model without her permission, which meant that Lila had likely forged her signatures on the contracts, so she would need to contact M. Agreste to get that sorted out. One of the things that surprised her was hearing that Lila had been akumatized, not once or twice, but three times!

Not long after that, M. Damocles dismissed the children so he and Greta could finish speaking. He told her that, due to falsifying contact records and two months of truancy, Lila was likely to be expelled. Greta accepted this, knowing that she would have done the same thing in that man’s position. In fact, she already had a plan forming on how to thoroughly punish her deceitful daughter. And since Lila had basically been quarantined for the next week and a half, she knew exactly what to do.

First, she began the paperwork to have Lila pulled out of Francois Dupont, effective immediately and asked to go speak to Lila’s classmates. After hearing what her daughter had put Marinette through, she wanted to make sure everyone knew the truth. Damocles allowed this, first pulling Mme. Bustier from the class to alert her as to what was happening. The woman was appalled to hear what had happened but insisted that she had been in contact with her for months via email, to which Greta informed her that it was not her email, but one that Lila had likely set up to keep the school from contacting her. This shocked the teacher to the point where she heavily leaned against the wall and M. Damocles had to support her to keep from collapsing.

When Greta was finally permitted to address the class and debunk the lies that her daughter had been spewing, there had been a lot of shock and questions to follow. But when a girl named Alya began furiously typing on her phone to blow up at Lila, Greta stopped her.

“I’m going to ask that none of you contact Lila from now on.” Alya and the other students looked at her in surprise, but she continued before anyone could interrupt. “I have already begun putting her punishment into motion and know for a fact that it will not be something she will forget anytime soon. So I ask that you do not call, text, or email her. If she attempts to contact you, tell her that you are busy and can’t talk. If she attempts to invite you over or make plans for the future, tell her that you are unavailable or that you already have plans. If she makes any threats or rude remarks to anyone, please forward those messages to me, I will leave my number for you to do so. Do this so that I may move forward with her punishment without her suspecting that I have discovered the truth.”

Having finally had the wool lifted from their eyes, the students realized just how much attention Lila seemed to demand on a daily basis. So, by acting like they were too busy for her or not in the mood to talk, that will drive her crazy and be a nice bit of revenge for lying to them. The class agreed.

After that, Greta headed home to find that Lila was still asleep but beginning to wake up, if the coughing was any indicator. While still having the chance, she called up her husband back in Venice.

“Pronto.”

“Mio amor, how are you? How are things at the school?”

“Ah, mia bella, the school is wonderful, though I must admit, my urge to see you and Lila grows by the minute. When will you come to visit me?”

“Very soon, actually. I’m afraid that you and I need to have a talk about our daughter.” About thirty minutes and a lot of cursing later, Ciro Rossi was now completely up to date on the actions of their daughter.

“I wish to say that I cannot believe Lila would do such things, but I can’t help remembering that boy, Roberto, from two years ago.”

Yes, Greta remembered him well. He had been a very popular boy at Lila’s school; handsome, rich, from a very well connected family, and from what she understood, completely dedicated to his boyfriend. She hadn’t paid him much attention until Lila came home crying that Roberto had attempted to sexually assault her. Greta and Ciro had refused to let such a thing go unchecked and went to the police to report him. During the weeks to follow, Roberto was put through hell; bullied at school, he was beaten up a few times, his boyfriend broke up with him, and his name slandered all over Venice. They had believed what happened to the boy to be justified… until proof was provided that he was nowhere near Lila when she claimed to have been assaulted.

She suddenly recanted her story, saying that she must have been mistaken and someone that looked like Roberto assaulted her, but the damage had already been done. The boy and his family moved somewhere far away, and Greta and Ciro were forced to pay restitution to Roberto for ruining his name and reputation. Through her tears, Lila convinced them that it had been an honest mistake and that she hadn’t meant for any of that to happen. It wasn’t long after that, Greta received an offer to be the secretary for the assistant ambassador in Paris. Lila had begged her mother to go with her, claiming that her classmates were now bullying her for what happened to Roberto. Wanting to protect their daughter, they agreed.

Looking back on it now, and noticing the similarities between Roberto and Adrien, both Greta and Ciro were disappointed in themselves for not seeing the truth. Which likely was that Lila had tried to get close to Roberto for his money and connections, and when he turned her down, she lied about the assault to ruin his life, much like she had done to Marinette. And when it came out that she had lied about Roberto, her classmates had turned on her. So when she got the chance to start somewhere new, with people who didn’t know about her lies, she took it. Not caring if she harmed anyone at her new school while repeating old habits. But they were not about to let Lila do the same thing to Adrien or Marinette. Once Greta told her husband her plan, he was all for it and began preparing things on his end. By the time Lila was done being sick, her entire life would have turned upside down.

~oOo~

It took a lot more effort than Greta had expected to hide her intentions for the nine days it took for Lila to get over her case of strep throat, but she had been making good use of that time.

She had contacted Gabriel Agreste’s secretary and asked about any contracts that may have been signed. When she told her she hadn’t signed any contract and that her daughter would no longer be modelling, the woman had no choice but to accept this and inform M. Agreste of this development. The woman also informed Greta that such a breach of contract would result in Lila being blacklisted from the fashion industry. She agreed and promised that she would inform her daughter of this once she was better.

Greta then looked into Lila’s savings and trust fund, of which she had control of since Lila was still a minor. She drained the accounts to pay restitutions to Marinette for bullying and slander, Adrien for sexual harassment; and then sent the rest of it to Roberto, along with a message that she was now completely aware of the type of person her daughter was and would be adequately punished very soon.

And to keep too much suspicion off of her, Greta began mentioning to Lila how her father desperately wanted to see her after she got better, so after the doctor gave her a clean bill of health, they would be going to Venice to see him. Now that she was watching, Greta saw the twinge of uncertainty at the mention of Venice, but quickly covered it with false excitement for going back to visit her father.

As the day grew closer that they would be heading to Italy, Greta also noticed Lila glaring at her phone with utter malice. She might not have known what was going on if Lila’s classmate, Alya, wasn’t keeping her up-to-date on what Lila was telling them. Her daughter was attempting to tell the class that she was going to be going on a trip with a famous singer after she was better, but her classmates were doing as Greta asked and treating the lies as if they meant nothing. When she accused Marinette of calling her a liar while she was sick and couldn’t defend herself, the class stopped responding.

One message that was forwarded to Greta nearly had her abandoning her plan and confronting her daughter at that moment. It was a message that Lila had sent to Marinette, who had shared it with Alya, who then forwarded it to Greta. It read:

You fugly, no talent bitch! You think I don’t know what you’re doing? Those stupid sheep were eating up every single one of my lies before I got sick, and now they won’t even talk to me! Just you wait. When I get back to school, I’m going to ruin you in every way imaginable. No one will want to be your friend. By the time I’m done with you, I hope you kill yourself. Maybe I’ll convince someone that you tried to kill me and they’ll kill you for me. Either way, you’re dead. And even if you show someone these messages, no one will believe you over me.

Greta forwarded the message to Ciro as well. He called her right away to discuss other accommodations that they would be making for Lila in the coming days. There was something seriously wrong with their daughter, and they refused to turn a blind eye to what was happening.

When the day finally came that Lila was better and they were heading to Venice, Greta instructed Lila not to pack her more expensive clothes as she would not want to lose them if their baggage got lost. What her daughter didn’t know was that Greta was planning on selling all of her designer clothes, jewelry, her electronics, and everything else to continue paying restitutions to Marinette, Adrien, and Roberto. And it wasn’t like she would need them soon, anyway.

The plane ride was a bit nerve racking for Greta, as she worried about giving something away and Lila figuring out her plan; but if she did, it didn’t show. When they landed at Venice Marco Polo Airport, she had to resist her sigh of relief. The plan was almost ready to be put in action.

When she saw Ciro waiting for them in his dress whites, her heart sped a bit more. The man was, without a doubt, the most handsome man she’d ever met, and was the love of her life. Being away from him for so long was difficult, but what else could they do? Her husband was a Capitano di Vascello of the Italian Navy and had worked very hard to get where he was. Although he was semi-retired now and no longer served on a ship, he had followed his dream and became the Vice Principal for the premier naval academy in Venice, Francesco Morosini Naval Military School.

He had gone to the school when he was younger and always claimed that it was the best experience he could have ever wished for. That being in that school saved his life. So when he continued into the navy to serve his country, he made it his goal to one day become the Principal of the school that saved him, so that he could do the same for other students. And now, they would be doing the same for Lila.

Greta and Ciro had thought of admitting Lila to Francesco Morosini when she came of age, but quickly realized that she was not the Navy type and did not want to force her into it. That choice was no longer Lila’s and she would be staying at the military school where it was Ciro’s job, not only as a father, but as an administrator of the school, to keep a close eye on any problem children.

Ciro embraced Greta and then Lila before taking their bags and walking them to his car. Lila was talking at length to her father about all her friends at school, all the happenings in Paris, and even mentioned her boyfriend, Adrien Agreste.

“You would like him, Papa. He’s a model, a gentleman, and his father is the designer, Gabriel Agreste. And he treats me like a princess!” Lila gushed as she showed her father a picture of Lila kissing the blonde boy’s cheek. Greta had seen that picture and had even asked Adrien about it while they had spoken in M. Damocles office. Lila had apparently kissed him without permission when she took that picture, and then sent it to every girl in Adrien’s contact list to make it seem like they were dating.

Ciro played along, asking questions about her classes, Adrien, the akuma situation that he had heard about over the news, and other things to keep Lila from growing suspicious. Sure enough, she prattled on through the entire car and ferry ride to Venice. Only seeming to look around questioning when they arrived at the Naval school, rather than their apartment.

“What are we doing here?” She asked, looking at her father in confusion.

The two parents dropped the act and glared at their daughter in disappointment and anger. “I’m surprised at you, young lady,” Greta started. “Did you really think you could keep lying to us? We. Know. Everything.”

They watched as her olive skin quickly paled. “What do you mean? I didn’t lie, I sw-”

“We know the school never closed,” Ciro interrupted, his tone leaving no room for argument or interruption. “We know about you lying to your classmates and teachers about having disabilities and diseases. We know about you changing our contact information on your school records. We know about you bullying and sexually harassing your classmates. We know about the threats you’ve made to that one girl. We know that you’ve been akumatized multiple times. We know the truth about what you really did to Roberto two years ago! WE KNOW EVERYTHING!”

With every word he said, Lila seemed to inch away from her irate parents and shrink into herself. At the same time, they saw the rage and contemplation in her eyes. She was angry at being caught and was already trying to think of a way out of trouble. Not that they would give her a chance to even try.

“But I didn’t li-”

“Lie number one, Ladybug is a useless superhero that let your school get damaged and spent months trying to deakumatize your principal, which is why you were out of school for two months.” Greta interrupted that time, pinning her daughter with a glare that she usually reserved for idiot interns who screwed up important paperwork at the embassy. “I personally spoke to your principal and looked into Ladybug. The school never closed. Ladybug and Chat Noir have always defeated the akumas and restored the damage thanks to their abilities. And you told the school that you and I were off globetrotting to places like Achu.”

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers. She was just beginning to stammer out an excuse when her father spoke over her.

“Lie number two, a girl named Marinette Dupain-Cheng has been bullying you because she is jealous of your relationship with your boyfriend, Adrien Agreste. We have seen the texts that you have sent that girl, the most recent saying,” Ciro pulled out his phone to read off of the text “‘...I’m going to ruin you in every way imaginable. No one will want to be your friend. By the time I’m done with you, I hope you kill yourself…’ Does that sound familiar to you?”

“I also personally spoke to Adrien after I spoke to Marinette, and found out that not only are you not his girlfriend, but you have been sexually harassing him! You even showed us proof in that picture you took where you kissed him!”

“But that’s not sexual harassment!” Lila shot back at them as her panic grew.

“Any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment. Your mother and I memorized that when you accused Roberto of assault, which is another thing you lied about! And let me guess, you wanted to use that boy’s popularity and family connections for a leg-up, but he turned down your advances since he was gay. You didn’t take that rejection well, so you told us he assaulted you. Is that what happened?”

“How did you-” Lila interrupted herself that time by slapping her hand over her mouth, quickly realizing that she had confirmed what her father had just said.

“Well, congratulations young lady. You have earned a complete overhaul on your life.”

“What do you mean?” Lila didn’t want to know, but it seemed like she had no choice but to ask.

“Your modelling contract with Gabriel is done,” Greta told her, noticing her wince since they weren’t supposed to know about that either. “I spoke with his assistant and discovered that you forged my signatures on the contracts to let you model. They were kind enough not to pursue legal action against you, but they have asked that I inform you that you have been blacklisted from the fashion industry, so that career option is completely closed off to you.”

“Your mother educated your friends at school with the truth. They know about all your lies and have kept us apprised of what you have been saying, the rumors you have been attempting to spread about going on a trip with a random music star, and were kind enough to forward that threatening message you sent to that girl, Marinette. They are no longer interested in being your ‘sheep’.”

“Not that you will be returning to that school,” Greta continued. “Your truancy has made that impossible, even if we did want you to stay there to face the consequences of your actions. Which includes paying restitution to the people you’ve hurt.”

“Paying!” Ciro and Greta watched as Lila’s right eye began to twitch as she snapped at them.

“Yes, paying. I’ve already emptied out your savings and trust fund to pay back Marinette, Adrien, and Roberto for what you’ve done to them-”

“You can’t do that! That’s my money!” She screamed, stomping her foot at her mother like a five year old throwing a tantrum.

“Money that you earned illegally modelling after forging my signature. And you are a minor, I am well within my rights to take that money to pay for the damages you have incurred. I will also be selling your laptop, tablet, mobile phone, as well as the clothes and jewelry you left in Paris. Seeing as you won’t be needing them anymore.”

As she said this, Lila clutched her phone and hugged it against her chest. “How am I supposed to talk to anyone without my phone?”

“Pen and paper, and if you need to speak with your mother, there’s my office phone or the payphone in the barracks, where you will be staying.”

The girl’s eyes grew impossibly wide as she looked at her parents in a panic. They couldn’t mean…

Ciro smiled the smile that he used to greet the families whose children were in need of discipline. “Welcome to Francesco Morosini Naval Military School, where we strive to give children an education that will help them for their future and the world that waits for them.”

~oOo~

There had been a lot of begging, crying, and screaming after that as Lila did everything she could to try and change her parents’ minds. This was a total nightmare for her. Forced to wear a uniform she hated. Surrounded by students, teachers, and her father; all of whom knew that she was a liar. No one gave her the type of attention she craved, but everyone was giving her the overly watchful attention she despised. She couldn’t even enjoy becoming an akuma anymore, as she was far out of Hawkmoth’s reach.

Greta and Ciro had gone out to dinner afterwards in an attempt to de-stress, only to get a call an hour later that Lila had tried to steal a boat and run away from the school. She was put on a 24/7 watch after that, now required to wear a tracking monitor wherever she went and was on bathroom and floor cleaning duty for the foreseeable future.

When Greta returned to Paris, she went about doing exactly as she promised. She sold Lila’s electronics, clothes, and jewelry; only keeping a pair of plastic stud earrings that her grandmother had given her. She met with M. Damocles again to let him know that everything had been taken care of. She contacted the Dupain-Cheng family to let them know that Lila wouldn’t be bothering their daughter again. That was probably the most pleasant thing she did, as they were a lovely family and sent her off with a box of assorted scones, so yummy! When she had them send a box of goodies to her husband in Venice, he called her a few days later and begged her to send more whenever she could.

Lila absolutely hated seeing her father enjoy pastries from the bakery of her rival’s family. That, along with being forced to talk to a psychiatrist three times a week to make her admit that she was a liar and to figure out why she feels the need to lie. All while wearing a horrible uniform and actually having to clean. She was in her own personal hell. How she wished that she had never gotten sick.

Taglist:

@2confused-2doanything @7-sage-7 @aadnrsstar @abrx2002 @awkwardromances @bayball @babylovebug18 @botanicalfoxx @back-cats-and-broken-mirrors @caffeinetheory @cheshire5210 @chocolateherringtacofan @city-of-all-tunas @classycollectorreviewworld @corabeth11 @chocolatechipcookiesandcamembert @darkened-flame @delightfulcookiesrecipespizza @fandom-trapped-03 @ghostmaster @iamblinkmarvelarmy @interobanginyourmom @izang @jesussavedevenme @kazedancer @kitten12113 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @lilypotter2018 @lunataravler @ladylupuscrow @maskedpainter @miraculouslydumb @nerd-nowandforever @naruwitch @ola-is-dead @pandacatxd @plushbookworm @plz-excuse-my-inner-ravenclaw @pheonix-biach @pandora-fucking-box @raiderofthelostbooks @ramos123 @rowanrouge @rowanyx @ren121 @seesea22 @seraphichana @sashakoi @shypeacekitten @tazer6787 @that-girl-sakea @thecrazyfantrollshasmoved @the-smallest-kittenz @tishwinchesterannabethjackson @t1dwarrior-of-earth @ulmban @with-forward-motion @wonderbat91939 @zoiechance

#lila salt #lila gets exposed #lila lies #lila karma #lila bashing #mlbjustice #miraculous ladybug #lila's parents #parenting done right

882 notes · View notes

shurisneakers · 3 years

Text

harmless (ix)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, sex jokes, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, anxiety

Word count: 3.9k

A/N: a lot of requests came in last week, so cool and thank you for sending them in!! i’ll try my best to write them if they weren’t originally what i had planned for this series bc they’re so cute kfjdghdf. also hey shoutout to @i-reblog-fics-i-like for suggesting the backstory thing!

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Additional Scene || Previous Part || Series Masterlist

Hot single in your area! 😈 Find your solemate!

Somehow it bypasses Bucky’s spam folder and is in his primary email. SHIELD tech is too advanced to let fake mails like this reach him and this doesn’t make sense. Unless it was one of the stupid dating websites he signed up for.

Leaving aside the obvious typo in the subject, he clicks on it, hoping it doesn’t unleash a virus onto his computer.

He’s instead greeted with a poorly Photoshopped picture of you at a bar with a martini in your hand. He doesn’t have to look too hard to see that the martini is, in fact, an emoji. Off to a terrible start already.

Right beside it is an even worse image, an imitation of an early Internet chat box.

Harbinger of Doom just sent you a message!

Come to the empty lot near lair. Bring goggles. 😩💦

Decline/Accept

He wants to strangle you.

______

“Why did you curse my eyes so early in the morning?” He spots you at the top of the lair, speaking loudly so that it hopefully reached you.

“What?” you yell back down instead. “If you’re saying something, I can’t hear you.”

He rolls his eyes. He pulls his phone from his pocket and presses on your contact.

He watches the look of confusion morph into one of slight surprise when you reach into your pocket and pull out your call.

“Don’t ever send an image like that to me again,” he says directly.

“If that one image is too much for you, how will we ever make our sex tape?”

His mouth opens and shuts like goddamn fish.

He can hear your laughter even without the phone.

“First of all- stop laughing- first of all, a sex tape is never going to happen. Second of all, I have a debriefing to go to, we need to make this quick.”

He holds up a finger when he sees you begin to say something. By the look of trouble painted all over your face, he knows it’s going to be a dumb innuendo.

“Thirdly, why are you standing there?”

“I watched The Last Airbender,” you say once your cackling dies down.

“I like that show.” He did. Peter sometimes watched it when he came over and Bucky more often than not joined in.

“I know, you told me.”

Oh.

“Okay, what now?”

“Put your goggles on.” You take one step towards the ledge.

“What are you doing?” The goggles don’t do anything to shield him from the sun, considering that they’re not tinted. Maybe he could invest in those.

You send him a smile, taking a step further. His walk towards the building turns into a jog, then a sprint when you’re basically standing on the edge.

You spread your arms out like Jesus Christ himself before flinging yourself off the building. His stomach drops.

His phone falls to the ground, discarded to the side as he sprints to break your landing.

It never comes.

Instead, a gust of wind smacks him in the face, forcing him a few steps backwards.

“I am now an air bender.” your eyes shone. “Kind of.”

Just like that, the show was ruined.

He wipes the dust on from his glasses that he now understands why you made him wear. Considerate, for a person who nearly just gave him a heart attack.

“Why.” It’s not even a question, just a statement.

“You know how the Tower has a giant ‘A’ on the side?”

He stares at you.

“I‘m gonna spray paint ‘asshole’ on the side of it.”

Pepper would not like that.

“That’s not even evil.”

“Yeah, but it’d annoy your super friends,” You do a flip midair, testing out the repulsors that were tied around your palms, “and I’m the voice of the people.”

You’re too high for him to reach. He doesn’t have his tools, or anything useful on him considering that he never had to use them before. He couldn’t even launch himself at you from the side of the building because you’d just move out of the way. He could jump really high but it would just have the same consequence.

He could talk and keep you distracted but that worked once, it wouldn’t again. At least not for long.

Fuck, he really had only one option.

He leaves you to do your somersaults and turns, walking over to where he dropped his phone. It’s an upgrade from the brick he was using a while ago, but not a high end Stark model. A smartphone, but barely.

He sighs, punching in the number and holding it up to his ear.

“Who are you calling?” you yell from above him.

“Go back to your shitty aerobics,” he yells back.

You pause for a second. “Was that a fucking pun, James Bar-”

The dial tone ends when someone picks up. He diverts his attention back to the call.

“Hey man, I-

“No.”

“You didn’t even let me finish.”

“It’s probably something stupid,” Sam doesn’t even sound annoyed, just uninterested.

“I need your wings.”

“I was right. Bye.”

It was a long shot anyway.

“Fuckin’ hold on a second.” He sees you disintegrate a concrete block by having it drop from the air. “You come here and fix this, then. She’s air bending now.”

“...like Avatar?” Sam unsurprisingly got the reference.

Peter’s interests were usually shared by everyone in the Tower, just because they had to compensate for the teasing he had to endure. It led to a lot of geeky documentaries and occasional musicals. Bucky wouldn’t be caught dead humming songs from Thoroughly Modern Millie under his breath.

“Yeah.”

“You want me to come and fight your girlfriend,” he says slowly.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Bucky urges, “and yes, I need help. Can’t exactly reach her when she’s twenty feet above me.”

“We have a briefing in 30 minutes. Why did you even go there today?”

He doesn’t know how to answer that. Just looks up at you smacking one of the repulsors against your thigh when it sputters for a second. It’s tradition.

“Well?” Bucky ignores his question.

“Fine,” Sam’s voice is distant for a second as he agrees. “Clint’s asking if he can come too.”

“Fuck no.” One of them was more than enough and Sam was way better at negotiation.

He hears a faint profanity from who he assumed was Clint before the call cuts.

He takes a seat on the ground and waits.

“You’re not going to make any effort to stop me?” You have your arms pressed to your side, palms pointed downwards to keep you afloat.

“I could just throw things at you again.” He makes a mention towards the small pebbles.

“I will fuck you up if you even try,” you warn. He lifts his arms in surrender. “So that’s it. You’re just going to sit there.”

“To be honest, I couldn’t care less if you painted the building,” he says with the least amount of interest he could muster, not that that was very hard.

“Do you not like your team?”

“I do.” He isn’t lying. “But they’re little shits.”

“I can draw a couple of dicks on their window, no problem,” you say offhandedly.

He looks up at you through his fingers. “That won’t be required.”

Although it was appreciated.

“Cool, so then I’m gonna go.” You make a mention of the utility belt on your waist. He looks at the many spray cans that decorate it.

“What colour are you going with?” he interrupts quickly. Fuckin’ Sam. What was the point of wings if he couldn’t get here in 2 minutes?

“Red, probably.” You look down. “I got purple and white just in case.”

“Building’s dark, red is good.”

“You really don’t care, do you?” You lower yourself down to the ground, a few feet ahead of him. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” For fucks’ sake, Sam. “You really don’t like superheroes, do you?”

“I don’t have anything against them.”

“Then why do you do this every week?”

This was wading into personal territory and he did not like it.

“Well.” Your eyebrows knit together. “Because I want to. It’s fun.”

“No other reason?”

“Do I need to have another reason?” You push your palm downwards, sending you back up into the air. “Can’t I just be evil because I want to?”

“Sure,” he says. He’s heard worse reasons. “Why not?”

“Besides, if you think I don’t like superheroes then you should meet Jake.”

“Who’s Jake?” He hadn’t ever heard you mention him before because he’d remember if you had.

“My roommate.”

“I didn’t see him when I came over.”

“That’s because we’re not conjoined at the hip.” It takes you a second to stabilise. “Besides, he grabbed the water while I got the bracelet but he refused to come say hi.”

Bucky looked down at his wrist. It was still there. He found himself fidgeting with it more often than not.

“He hates superheroes?”

“He has a valid reason.” Your eyes widen in worry when your head suddenly dips.

“What is it?” He knows the height at which you’re at isn’t very dangerous but if need be, he’s close by.

“Come find out.” Your eyes shone mischievously. “But yeah, no reason for me to be evil.”

“Not even a tragic backstory?”

“None. But if you want it, I can give you one, Barnes.” You test the waters, seeing how long you can lie horizontally. “Can’t promise you’ll like it though.”

“Try me.” He has time to kill. He’s a good listener.

“Well, it all started with my family- a troop of gorillas.” You flip over to lie on your back. “They practically raised me, they did. Until my gorilla mother died and I was all but consumed by grief and-”

“Your mother was a gorilla?” He entertains the notion.

“Or was it my father?” you ask thoughtfully. “I don’t know, I don’t remember. Anyway, I met a-”

“Just to clarify, none of this is real, right?” he interjects.

You stare at him. He stares at you.

“Bucky, that’s the plot of Tarzan,” you say slowly, “or at least whatever I remember of it... which I’m beginning to realise isn’t much.”

“Just clarifying.” He leans back again.

“Anyway so then when my mother, the deer-”

“Gorilla.”

“Whatever. Was killed, I escaped to some place-”

“Where?”

“Somewhere. And I stayed with these seven men-”

“Why seven?” He actually remembers watching this movie with his sister when it came out. An early memory, a bit faded. He remembers how long he saved up for the ticket.

“Because character development. And then I realised the reason my life was so weird was because there was a rat controlling me by pulling on my hair-”

“What the fuc-”

“If you ask any more questions, I’m going to stop.”

Bucky blinks at you. “So that’s your backstory.”

“Raw and uncut, baby.”

“Just to get this straight, your mother, the gorilla deer-”

“Witch.”

“Huh?”

“She was a witch who stole my hair.”

“Wha-”

He’s interrupted by the giant shadow cast by something that flies overhead.

Fucking finally.

He doesn’t even have to look up. Sam does a small glide to the ground, landing gracefully beside him.

Bucky finds you speechless but straightened up from your earlier posture.

“Buck,” Sam greets him.

“Sam,” he says in return, getting up from his place.

A grin spreads across your face. “Mr. Sam Wilson. No way.”

“You’re Y/N, I’m assuming?” Sam offers, posture relaxed. He clearly wasn’t here to fight.

“The one and only.” You tear your eyes away from Sam to glare at Bucky. “Barnes, if you had told me we were expecting guests, I would have dressed better.”

Bucky furrows his eyebrows in suspicion at you. You’d dress up for Sam.

You dressed up like a suburban tourist dad for him. He was feeling the offence incoming.

“Can’t count on him to be useful in any situation.” Alright, he did not call Sam just to have the both of you team up against him.

“Normally I’d agree with you but he did just invite you here, so...” you trail off, looking at Sam expectantly.

What the shit.

Sam smirks. Bucky switches rapidly back and forth between the both of you.

“I see why Buck keeps coming back every week.” It doesn’t take long for him to catch on, enlisting a feeling of triumph from you.

“I can’t see why he doesn’t just stay at home everyday if this is the view.” You gesture to him.

This is not what Bucky wanted.

“Okay,” Bucky interrupts, “what is going on here?”

“Pure chemistry, I’d say.” You’re half tempted to bite your lip to seal the deal.

“I agree.” Sam just nods, completely and utterly serious.

You think that you’ll give him a gift basket just for playing along despite meeting you for the first time at that moment.

“Get a room.” Bucky rolls his eyes.

“Maybe we will.” You tap your finger against your lip in thought. “How do you feel about Indian food, Sam?”

“Very positively.”

Bucky grits his teeth. “If you’re not planning to spray paint the Tower, can you just hand over the repulsers so we can go home for the day?”

You let out a small tsk in disapproval. “See what I have to deal with?”

“Can’t imagine how you do it every weekend,” Sam says dryly, not wasting a second in replying.

“Hello?” Bucky waves his arm around. “She’s the villain here.”

“Your face is the villain here.” You tear your eyes away from Sam only to glare at him. “He won’t even wear a cape. Why am I the only one who brings their A-Game every week?”

“Sam just get the damn-”

“You should wear a cape, man.” Bucky’s absolutely sure that even Sam knows it’s a ridiculous idea.

“I’m not wearing a fuckin’ cape,” he grumbles.

“What are your thoughts on swords, then?” Your finger finds a place under your chin in deep contemplation. “You’d look great with a sword.”

Bucky buries his face in his palms. “Sam, for the love of God.”

“Okay, alright.” Sam finally gives in with a small chuckle. He runs a few steps to get a small head start before launching himself into the air, whizzing past your levitating figure. He does a neat little flip midair before matching your height.

Showoff.

“How difficult are you gonna make this, Wilson?” you ask, a smirk on your face.

“Jesus Christ.” Bucky exhales, looking at the both of you through his goggles.

“What’s your play here?” Sam calls out loudly.

“Was gonna spray paint ‘asshole’ on the side of the Tower.”

“After the ‘A’?”

“After the ‘A’,” you confirm.

“Now that’s too small,” Sam tutted. “You gotta think bigger. Paint the whole Tower.”

“Sam!” Bucky looks horrified.

“Hmm.” You look like you’re considering it. “Don’t have enough paint for that though.”

“You’re an evil genius, right?” Sam casts a small glance at Bucky. “At least that’s what he tells me.”

“You talk about me?” You grin at the disgruntled man on the ground.

“I don’t,” he mutters, shaking his head. A lie.

“Yeah, so build something,” Sam points out. “Get some more paint. I’ll even tell you the best vantage points to spill it.”

“No, he won’t,” Bucky shouts from below.

“He’s just cranky because he didn’t get his prune juice this morning, ignore him,” Sam dismisses him.

Prune juice? He was a young 100, not ancient.

“What’s your favourite colour, Falcon?”

“I like red.”

As annoyed as Bucky is right now, he stores that away in his memory for later. He also knows Sam loves seafood and a good pair of shoes.

“A couple of gallons of red paint it is, then.” You lower yourself to the ground, Sam slowly follows suit until he lands beside Bucky.

“You know we can’t let you go without taking those, right?” Bucky tilts his head towards your invention.

You narrow your eyes at him. He doesn’t budge.

“I’ll tell ya what,” Sam pipes in instead. “I’ll keep them until you finish getting the paint and once you’re done, we’ll make an evening out of vandalising the Tower.”

Bucky may not enjoy his company all that much but he admires Sam’s diplomacy. Of course, you would never make it this easy while reasoning with him.

“That a promise, Mr. Wilson?” You raise your eyebrow at him questioningly but are already in the process of removing the things from your hand.

“Wouldn’t ever lie to you, doll.” He holds up his hand in a mock swear.

You walk towards Bucky and him, rotating your wrists to get rid of the soreness. “Bold claim for a man who met me ten minutes ago.”

“Feels like it’s been longer.” He sends you a wink and you can’t stop the laugh the escapes from you finally.

Bucky holds his hand out for the gadgets. You shrink away from him with a click of your tongue.

“Technically, he takes this round.” You send a nod towards Sam, dropping off the repulsors into his hand. “So he gets it.”

Bucky rolls his eyes.

“You gonna keep ‘em safe?” you ask Sam, this time a little more earnestly.

“Guard it with my life,” he says seriously, pressing his lips together in a line to avoid smiling.

“You’re both ridiculous,” Bucky cuts in.

“You’re going to be late.” Sam tucks the devices into his pocket safely. “You know how Steve gets when people walk in on his speeches. Do you even have a ride?”

“Got the motorcycle.”

“See you there.” Sam nods.

“Save me a place,” Bucky says to him.

“No.” He doesn’t even hesitate. “Y/N. It was a pleasure.”

“Still holding you to that evening, Sam.” You send him a smile.

“I’m countin’ on it.” He gives you a small three finger salute before taking off, leaving you staring after his retracting figure.

When the dust settles, Bucky awkwardly clears his throat. “Right. So that was that.”

“Dude,” you let out an exhale. “he’s so hot.”

He murmurs something unintelligible. It vaguely sounds like a series of threats but mostly a list of complaints.

“Don’t you have a meeting to get to?” You turn your attention back to him.

“Yeah.”

“Aren’t you going to be late?” You glance at the clock on your phone.

“I’ll just tell them I was on a mission.” Well, sort of. “Besides, what are they gonna do? Kick me out?”

“Fair enough.” You shrug. “Have a safe ride back.”

From what he knows of you and Sam, the both of you were kidding around. But he could never be too sure. He can’t even ask if you were serious about the entire thing because it’s none of his business.

Were the implications of having his mortal nemesis and other mortal nemesis date important enough to overrule that?

“Are you planning to skip your meeting, or?” you ask when he remains freezes in his spot, eyes glazed over like he’s thinking about something. “Because if you are, I know this great Thai place-”

“Don’t do that again,” he says instead, shaking his head to jolt him out of his thoughts.

“What?”

“Flinging yourself off roofs like that.”

“Why?” Because it scared the hell out of him, for one.

“Just don’t.”

“Oh please, like you’ve never done dangerous shit like that before.” You narrow your eyes at him, reading his face. “Are you telling me you care about me?”

“No.” His nose twitches. “Just don’t throw yourself off buildings when I’m around.”

“What about when you’re not?”

“As long as I’m not there to witness it.” He shrugs, spinning on his heel to leave. Technically he preferred if you didn’t do things like that at all.

“Fine. I’ll just have my clone try out all the dangerous stuff for me.”

He stops in his tracks. “You have a clone?”

“Well,” You squint, “no. But I’m working on it.”

He scoffs, shaking his head. “Bye Y/N.”

“You know, it sounds an awful lot like you’re saying we’re friends.” Your whole demeanour changes and he already knows what’s coming.

“I never said that,” he argues vehemently. “All I said was that I can’t have your murder on my hands.”

“Thus implying that we’re friends. In a fucked up, enemies kind of way.” You positively beam at him. “Aw, Barnes, that’s adorable.”

Adorable? Adorable?

“I hate you.”

“I love you, too, bestie,” you gush, dumb grin on your face. “I’ll make us friendship rings next time. What are your thoughts on matching tattoos?”

He wants to cry.

______

By the time Sam walks into the meeting room, the session’s already begun. He shoots an apologetic look to a monologuing Steve before taking his place at the nearest chair available.

Something sharp pokes his thigh. His wings are off and in the backpack beside him, but then he remembers your little inventions that were still in his pocket.

He tries not to make much of a noise while he pulls them out, giving them a look over to make sure they’re not broken.

“Watcha got there, Big Bird?” Tony asks lowly from beside him.

“Something that Barnes’ enemy made.” Sam holds it up slightly.

“The one he’s been rendezvousing around town with every weekend?”

“That’s her.” He’s about to put it in his backpack when Tony stops him.

“Pass that here for a second.” He recognises it immediately for what it is, interest piqued.

Sam hands one of them over while he puts the other back in the bag. It’s a metallic circle, not bigger than Tony’s palm, with a thick leather strap to tie it around your palm.

“She made this?”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Sam mentions towards Bucky who silently slips into the conference room, standing in the corner near the potted plant since there were no more chairs left.

“The balance has gotta be off on this thing,” he mutters to himself, wholly ignoring the brooding man standing in the corner like a Christmas tree.

“She seemed to be manoeuvring it fine,” Sam catches the eye of a lower ranking agent who makes the mistake of glaring at him for talking while the meeting was going on. A few seconds later the agent hastily looks away and doesn’t turn around for the rest of the hour.

“Could be better.” He uses a much more intricate model for his suits, although this isn’t even half-bad for a homemade version. “Do you know how long she took to make this?”

“Buck says she comes up with a new one every week, so I’m guessing that long.”

It had a few glitches but it was incredibly refined for a week’s worth of work.

“Interesting.” He gives it a quick overlook before handing it back to Sam who drops it into the bag.

He casts a swift glance at Bucky, noting how he wasn’t even paying attention to the meeting but rather to whatever he had tied around his metal wrist, fidgeting with it with his thumb.

Tony has an idea.

And that was generally bad news.

Next part

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #mcu fic #bucky fic #bucky barnes fic #bucky fluff #bucky barnes fluff #bucky angst #bucky barnes angst #harmless fic #winter soldier x reader #Winter Soldier #bucky barnes #bucky

1K notes · View notes

boliv-jenta · 2 years

Text

Am not feeling this chapter in the grand scheme of things but am learning writing doesn't have to be perfect to be enjoyable and if I happen to bring some joy to someone else for a minute it can't be all bad.

Alterations

Still in the prequel phase of Wardrobe

Set after Dress and Measurements

Dieter Bravo x female reader.

Smut 🔞

It was so strange how something so tiny as a signature on a piece of paper can change so much. One minute you were pretty much having to justify your own existence. The next you were free.

The last few months had been rough. Your ex had fought every step of your divorce even your iron clad prenup. When you first got together he was a struggle artist. It was you that supported him, put food on the table, a roof over your heads. It was you who started a promising career. When you married he insisted that you opt into equitable distribution, so if you divorced everything would be split evenly. What he didn't forsee is that with your support he would go on to be one of the biggest names in Hollywood. Instead of him getting half of your hard earned money you were getting half of his. Thanks to your very diligent lawyer it actually turned into 75% of his. Turns out your loving husband had been hiding money for as long as he had been cheating on you. Which, as it turns out, was a long time. Long enough to have have been paid for two Ryan Reynolds movies and a very lucrative deal with Disney+, the remained of which was promptly terminated when news of his infidelity spread.

Things at work were going well. The studio was expanding. The streaming service they were signed to kept signing big name after big name. Like Dieter Bravo, who was signed up for a whole bunch of movies. That's how he kept turning up in your department. Kept finding an excuse to be there. Kept finding himself buried in you somehow. His fingers, tongue, cock. Whatever you allow him to slip into your tight, wet, heat. Something you had mixed feelings about but you had to admit the sex was incredible. Dieter was skilled but he also communicated. Even when he was teasing you or calling you all the filthy things he could think of, he listened. In his own way he asked if you were okay. Even if he had started referring to himself as Daddy when he did. The first time he did, you curses your vagina's betrayal. A breathy little chuckle left his lips as your walls squeezed him. It wasn't that you liked that whole Daddy Little Girl thing. Just that sweet, innocent little word used in such a wrong context, it did something for you. By now Dieter knew how to press all your buttons, even if he didn't know your last name. Evidenced by him being very confused to find you on location when you were listed by your title and last name only.

"Well, this is a nice surprise." he looked over his sunglasses at you. For once, he was actually wearing them because of the sun.

"How are you surprised? I'm on the call sheet." Lifting the paper to his face you tapped you name.

"That's you? Changed your name, huh?"

"Four months ago. It's on my door. Every piece of paper work. You've heard it over the PA system. My boss called me by it, in front of you, that time..." It was not a good idea to remind him of that. The time he was taking you slowly from behind when your boss had walked in, head in a folder, giving him enough time to shift you forward and bend over you, still fully sheathed inside of you. Pretending you were both studying the designs on your desk, he told your boss to give you a few minutes to finish up. Once she left he slammed into you until you knees gave way, his large hand silencing your screams.

"What time?" He grinned. Shit.

"Everyone calls me by my maiden name now, everyone, except you, it seems."

"If your not going to tell me about that time, maybe you can remind me about it?" He spoke low in your ear as he used his hips to usher you forward from behind, until he had to pinned to the table in front of you. Thick canvas covered three sides of your tent, the fourth wide open to the beautiful view of the forest. For a moment you wondered what it would be like to let him take you out here in the elements. The sun warming your skin, the periodic chill of the wind carrying the morning dew from the trees. Dieter began to nuzzle at your neck. Growing hard as he pressed into the flesh of your ass.

A bullhorn calling your name cut the moment short.

"See, everyone uses it." you deadpanned pulling away from him.

This shoot was going to drive you insane. For the first time since working with Dieter, you were required to be ever present on set. The retro space suits you had designed, needed periodically taking off for the actors to take a break. Even though great care had been taken to make them as comfortable as possible, they were still warm and weighty. Between takes Dieter would pull his down to his waist. Only a tight, white, sleeveless vest covered his upper half. Meaning his broad shoulders and muscular arms were on display. That coupled with him running lines in the accent they had him using, was warming you up quicker than any space suit could. The bastard knew it too. He would perform unnecessary arm stretches or wait until you were near to ask his masseuse to work on his back, moaning and groaning openly.

The only slight reprieve from his antics was the AD. He was attentive to everyone's needs. He had a mindset of everyone needing to be comfortable to do there job to the best of their ability. Several times a day he would check in, making sure everyone was at their best. When he saw how hot you were he had brought you more water and a couple of fans. The smaller on he had pressed into you hand before squeezing it, making you promise to let him know if you needed anything else. He was even sweet to Dieter who, you noticed, was anything but in return. When Dieter was having a particularly rough day he convinced the director to change the schedule up to give everyone a break. As everyone started to leave you smiled at him in thanks, he smiled back dipping his head in acknowledgement.

The break gave you extra time to work on a few alterations for the costumes you would need for the next day. It was so peaceful out here. Production had taken over a log cabin motel deep in the woodland. Shooting itself took place deeper in the woods. Tents were set up will all the necessities. The only sound outside of nature was the occasional crackle of the radio you had been left with in case your cell service dipped. Just as you were packing your things up, it came to life. Someone called your full name, asking if you were still at you tent. After you replied, it went silent again. The only noise now was the distance sound of one of the ATVs they used to get around. As it approached, you popped your head out, to met with the sight of Dieter, in only that torturous vest and a pair of shorts, riding towards you.

"Get on." It wasn't a question.

"A please would be nice."

"Yeah, I suppose it would be. Get on."

"Dieter..."

"What? We're shut down for the day. What are you going to be doing back at the lodge? Knitting?"

"Knitting? You don't have a clue about me do you?"

"I know if slide my fingers into your panties, I'll find that you're soaked."

He wasn't wrong there.

It's not that your sex life before had been bad. It was just you and your husband had been together a long time. You were both busy. You had some health conditions later in your marriage that meant sex wasn't high on your list of priorities. Kids were out of the question for you so it wasn't like there was a functional need for it. The sex wasn't bad it was just sporadic and mundane. Before Dieter you had noticed an uptick in you sex drive. Since your husband was busy 'working' you found yourself masturbating at least every night. If you were home all day, you'd sometimes need a release in the day too. As time went on, you found all sorts of ways to pleasure yourself. Discovered kinks that you didn't know you had. Your sex life was better by yourself. Not that you'd ever tell him, but fantasising over movie characters played a part in getting you off, including several of Dieter's.

Feeling bold, you stepped closer to him lifting your simple sundress to allow him to validate his claim. Once he did, he took his time slowly licking his fingers clean. Asshole.

"Please?" He held out a hand to you.

For a second you almost blushed. Dieter being nice wasn't something you were used to. Come to think of it him doing anything but showing up to annoy you or fuck you wasn't something you were used to. The moment played in your mind until you reached wherever it was you were going. Stopping the ATV at a particular dense run of trees Dieter motioned for you to get off first before swinging his leg over and standing up himself. He grabbed a bundle from the storage net at the back then pushed through the dense foliage. Following him, all you could see was his muscular back disappearing into the green, until he broke out the other side. Once you broke through too your breath caught in your throat. The view was beautiful. About thirty feet in front of you the ground fell away, affording you a beautiful view of the forest with the ocean just beyond it. The sun was low, shimmering just above the horizon. The sky was a pallet of oranges, yellows and pinks. Without realising it, you had walked closer to the edge. Behind you Dieter had spread out a large towel. When you turned around he was sitting on it looking at you. "What? I don't want to get dirty."

"You couldn't have brought a blanket? Where am I supposed to sit?"

"I have a suggestion." He laid back on the towel, arms folded beneath his head.

Not even bothering with a comeback you walked over, hitched up your dress and straddled him.

"Not where I was thinking." His large hands grabbed you hips pulling you towards his face.

"Di." you giggled as head disappeared under the flowing material of your skirt, his moustache tickling your skin.

Shit. Another mistake.

His head popped back out comically. "What did you call me?" When you didn't answer straight away he swatted at your pussy.

"Di." You said louder than intended, thanks to the pleasure from the sharp slap.

"Hmmm. I'll allow it." He went back to his goal. Helping you lift up to remove your underwear before burying his face between your legs. Your orgasm built quickly between his talented tongue and the friction of his facial hair. Just as you were about to let go, he stopped. "On second thoughts. I think you should earn it."

"Fine. I'll call Dieter." You huffed sitting back on his chest.

"You're lucky, you get that privilege. Any more attitude and I'll bump you back down to Mr Bravo." Shuffling from underneath you, he sat up. With you in his lap he pulled off his vest. The tawny expanse of his chest bared to you for the first time. Heaven help you, you wanted to lick every inch of it. Laying back again, he lifted his hips he took off his shorts and kicked them off with his shoes. It was the first time you'd seen him completely naked. He was a sight to behold.

Trying to save some face, you acted unaffected."I am not calling you that. It sounds like a fucking cartoon character."

Stripping you of your dress and bra, he pulled you close to him. His cock notched at your entrance. "A cartoon character who's name you'll be screaming in a minute."

"Never." You breathed as he slid inside you.

"That sounds like a challenge." In one swift move he had you underneath him. Rolling his hips into you, dipping into you with languid shallow moments.

"No challenge. Just a fact." you smiled. The curve of you lips brushing against his cheek. Without thinking you pressed a kiss there. It felt like a natural thing to do. It took you a moment to realise that kissing wasn't something you really did.

"Facts can be challenged." He turned his head to press a kiss to you lips.

"What?!" you laughed out between kisses. "You can be a challenge."

Your bickering continued between, panting and stolen kisses.

"Come say it."

"No."

"Just once."

"No."

"Say it and I'll give you something in return."

"Like what?"

"Anything."

"You'll give me anything I ask for?"

"Within reason."

"How about about you give me a break?"

"You think you're so fucking smart."

"Oh, I know I am."

He opened his mouth to say something then shook it off. The only sound that left his mouth after than were ones of pleasure.

For the first time, you spent time just enjoying each others bodies. Your hands roamed his firm muscles while your legs encircled his narrow waist. His hands travelled your curves. Neither one of you were in a rush. The occasional kiss evolved into something deeper. Tongues rolling against each others as you captured each others moans. Even you orgasm wasn't rushed. It built slowly, the tension spreading through you. Instead of snapping it pulsed and flowed, washing over you. It left you feeling heavy and sated. From the drawn out groan from Dieter, you guessed he was experiencing something similar. A shiver ran down his spine once he finally finished spilling into you. Absently, you chased it away with glide of your hand down his back. Once he pulled out he lay on top of you for a few moments. This was not how you thought your night would go. Obviously, you hadn't ruled out having sex with him but this was different. Everything you usually did was just a frantic race to come or included some sort of power play from him. He loved that he could make you wet with just a few words. How he could easily make you beg or come for him. Tonight was a complete contrast. It had been almost, romantic?

Eventually, once the afterglow passed, the silence grew awkward and you both began to dress.

Of course Dieter was the first to speak.

"You know, you're not that smart. You're sleeping with me."

"You keep saying things like that."

"Like what?"

"Like sleeping with you is a bad choice."

"It is."

"Then why do you keep doing it?"

"It's a bad choice for you to make, not for me."

Well, you did have to give him that.

"Besides I always make bad choices. That's why you shouldn't be fucking with me. Historically it never ends well. You should go out with the AD. He likes you. Seems like a good guy."

Confusion filled you. Was he ending whatever this was? "Maybe I will."

He nodded at that and turned back to putting his shoes on.

"It's not like am cutting you off. I understand I'm a hard act to follow. We could keep this going while he gets up to speed with what you like."

"Why thank you. Mr Bravo."

"See, that was hard?"

"I was using it to make fun of you so it was actually really easy."

Climbing back on the ATV a twinge of actual saddness that this might be over tugged at you. Thankfully for the pretence of holding on, you wrapped your arms around his waist, pressed yourself against his back. As much as Dieter annoyed you, this whole thing had helped you through a real rough patch. He'd provide you with comfort. Maybe he was right. This wasn't going to end well if it carried on. Probably better to make a clean break and move on. You wonder if that's what tonight was about, letting you down easy?

"Worse comes to worse, I could always show him?"

"What?!"

"I could show him how to fuck you."

"No! Just...no."

"What? You don't think he watches porn?"

"I didn't say..."

"He definitely watches it. I don't see why he wouldn't want a live version."

"I would think most people don't want to watch their date be fucked by someone else."

"Really? Most people I know would be cool with it."

"Wow, we really live in two different worlds."

"Mine's more fun."

You opened your mouth to speak but thought better of it. From the time you had spent in it, it really was.

Tagging people who commented. Sorry if I've missed anyone.

@babydarkstar @prolix-yuy @thegreenkid

#pedro pascal character fanfiction #dieter bravo x reader #dieter bravo x you #dieter bravo

121 notes · View notes

inotanzen · 3 years

Note

hiii! i really admire your art skills. and the fact that you improved so much in just 6 months is inspiring! do you have any tips on how to improve? i'm 26 and i want to improve but i feel like ive neglected my art for so long and now it's too late. :(

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH OMG ?? oh man i’m so bad with feeling and gratitude but this seriously means more than i can express so i worked really, really hard on narrowing down my best tips! so here’s

Eli’s Top 5 Rules To Be a Totally Cool Awesome Badass Artist In As Long As It’s Going To Take (In Order) :

Most important rule of all is it should be FUN. be disgustingly self indulgent, draw what you want and LOVE, not what you think you should or what everyone else is, or how everyone else is! don’t vibe with doing sketches first? hate lining? despise complicated painting styles? find shortcuts, don’t do them!!! if you’re doing digital maybe draw your sketches traditionally first and scan them/take a photo to draw over, try a lineless style, cel shading, or mixing mediums, the options are endless! this is where your “style” will come from. all “style” is, is an artists shorthand.

You are your only competition. never compare your progress to anyone but your past self, it’s not a race in terms of how good you are at X age after X amount of time spent practicing. i saw it illustrated in this comic a few years ago (that made me cry at the time, because i hadn’t started drawing yet) as seeing your skills as a beautiful potted plant- just because some people are walking around with theirs fully grown and thriving, doesn’t mean your little sprout will stay small forever. just be patient, keep watering it, and eventually, it’ll be a beautiful flower all your own. ❀

Use references Obsessively. this includes tracing! (ethically) there’s a ton of resources out there, redraws of frames from movie or shows are great too! play around with it, try using the perspective but change the style or turn it into a character au for a fandom you love. (this is part of that first tip!) mashing together images past the point of original intelligibility is acceptable as well. the goal isn’t to obsess over accuracy or stop using references altogether though, just to use them differently over time.

Inspiration/motivation won’t be gone forever. don’t force yourself to practice drawing, or you’ll end up resenting it altogether. i’ve had my tablet and pencil since january but i say 6 months bc there were two (almost three) entire months where i had no inspiration and just did Nothing. take time to consume new media for ideas or look at what inspires you instead! keep folders of the things you find most appealing to pull up when you need them. art can be a freeing escape if you allow it to be!

Look at art you admire and think about Why you admire it. why does it look good, what catches your eye most? is it the colors? the lighting? the shapes and perspective? the varied line thicknesses or the overall layout composition? everything can be broken down into components, hone in on the ones you like most and try to emulate them. we’re all just flowing down the stream of shared inspiration together. :)

bonus digital art tip: you will always need more layers than you think you do. give each element its own layer like it’s the most introverted mf you’ve ever met, i swear on everything good in this cursed world you will thank me later. layer/item selection and transform are your best goddamn friends for life.

there’s also a lot of art related posts in this tag and on my art twitter ♡ thank you endlessly again and good luck on your journey!!

#art tips #art advice #anonymous #love me #i just know i'm forgetting sth #and i'll kick myself when i remember later #but i Think that's everything #that's helped me most at least!#i hope it can help you at all #it's never too late ♡

94 notes · View notes

calpalirwin · 3 years

Text

Come Back

Summary: It was a standard routine mission gone wrong in all the worst ways possible, or so the world, and most of the Avengers, was led to believe.

A/N: When my 5sos writing addiction crosses paths with my superhero addiction. Beta-read by @jessalyn-jpeg thank you!!!!

Word Count: 10.8k

And away, and away we go!

“Hostage situation,” Ashton said, slapping the folder down in the middle of the table.

Y/N’s fingers grazed the manila folder emblazoned with a giant “MISSION” stamp in the middle of it. Fuckin’ subtle, she thought with an eye roll.

“Am I boring you already?” Ashton all but snapped at the woman, his arms crossing over his chest.

She raised her gaze to meet his, holding it steadily. Aside from Calum and Michael, Y/N and Ashton were the closest in age, with Y/N having the advantage over the man, a fact she knew he despised even though she graciously allowed him to take the lead at every opportunity. Leading had never been her cup of tea, but it was definitely Ashton’s, the arrogant little bastard. “Not at all,” she said sweetly, flashing him a smile. “Captain,” Y/N added as an afterthought.

Ashton pinched the bridge of his nose, shifting his stare over to Calum, seeing if he’d help tame the woman’s snark, so that Ashton could get on with the team meeting, preferably without a headache. Calum just gave his sister a small shove, which she gladly took as a way to knock into Michael on her other side, the blonde’s arm going to rest along the back of his girlfriend’s chair.

When Ashton cleared his throat, Y/N rolled her eyes again. “Oh, just get on with it, you prat. Hostage situation. And ready? 3, 2, 1, action!”

“Yes,” Ashton said, his tone taking on the edge that was aptly referred to Ashton’s leader voice. “We, that is SHIELD, infiltrated a Hydra base about a month back in an attempt to get a spy on the inside. Problem is, that SHIELD agent was working with Hydra, and led our men straight into a trap.”

“And women,” Y/N added.

“Yes, and our women agents as well, thank you, audience participation.”

“So our task is to do what exactly? Search and rescue?” Luke asked, leaning back in his seat.

“Pretty much, yes.”

“Great…” the blue eyes rolled.

“Yeah, it’s not exactly glamorous, but it’s well within our authorization to carry out ourselves.” Ashton puffed out his chest a little, like he was proud to be trusted with such a high class mission.

“Blow up New York a few times saving the world and everyone’s a critic…” Y/N joked half-heartedly. “Face it, Ash, we’re an over glorified search and rescue team. Just tell us when we’re headed out.”

“Jet leaves in a half hour. Folder contains more details regarding our individual parts and a map of the compound.”

Luke’s face lit up at the potential that individual assignments might have a little bit more glory to them, eagerly snatching the folder and passing out the packets inside to each team member before tearing into his. “Aw! C’mon!” he groaned, tossing the papers back on the table. “We never get anything cool anymore…”

Y/N kept her quip about how Luke should speak for himself to herself, as she glanced at her own personal assignment. Fuckin’ hell…

“You alright, babe?” Michael asked, his fingers rubbing at her neck as he started to pull his arm back across her chair.

She crumpled her assignment in her fist. “Hmm? I’m fine,” she grinned, kissing his nose.

Michael blew out his air in a huff, “Yeah, I know the mission’s kinda bullshit action wise. But when we get back we can play with these new arrows I’ve been working on. These ones have tracking technology, so even if I was to miss, I wouldn’t.”

“Aw, but you never miss a shot.”

Michael smirked, “I know. But now you guys can use them too. Doesn’t hurt to pick up an extra skill.”

“Sounds like a date,” she said, this time pressing a kiss to his lips, savoring the moment. In a couple of months to a year, she added in her head, because what Michael didn’t know, and what she couldn’t tell him, was that these were going to be their last moments with each other for a while.

~~~

Exactly a half hour after Ashton had dismissed his team, the group of five sat strapped in the jet, the engines rumbling as it took off, headed for the Hydra base. “Everyone has their assignment?” Ashton asked, eyes darting across everyone.

“Yes, Dad,” they all mock-saluted.

The hazel eyes rolled, and his jaw ticked in annoyance. “If someone else wants to be leader, be my guest.”

“So then I could be the prat everyone hates?” Luke scoffed. “No, thanks.”

“Aw, Luke. We’d hate you regardless if you're the leader or not,” Michael joked, clapping the other man on the shoulder.

“Hehehe,” Luke laughed in a high-pitched, mocking manner.

“Nobody has a problem with you being leader, Ash. You know this,” Y/N said. “Plus we all know that you’re just the one relaying orders from the higher ups. You’re just better at it than the rest of us. I mouth off too much, and these three are babies. Face it, you’re the perfect soldier.”

Ashton’s expression softened a bit at her words, the closest thing to a compliment she’s ever given him. “Thanks, Y/N. That means a lot.”

“Oh, save it. It doesn’t make you less annoying.”

“Babies? Who are you calling babies?” Michael asked, poking a finger in his girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Yeah!” Calum huffed. “No babies here!”

Y/N laughed, reaching out to pinch Calum’s cheek. “You will always be a baby to me, baby brother.” Then she turned her attention to Michael, “And you? You’re just my babe,” she grinned, kissing his nose.

“And me?” Luke asked, perking up his seat.

“A literal infant,” she grinned wider while everyone else nodded, including Ashton.

The rest of the jet ride was spent doing last minute training (Ashton), reviewing personal assignments (Y/N), tinkering with new technology (Calum and Michael), or sleeping (Luke) until Ashton called everyone back for a quick meeting.

“We’re approaching our drop off point.”

“Drop off point or…?” Luke whistled before slamming his hand down on the table. “Jumping point?”

Ashton held up 2 fingers, and Luke grinned, pumping his fist in small victory. “We can’t risk the jet getting anywhere near their radar, so we’re landing roughly here,” Ashton continued, pointing at the map. “Hydra base is here,” he moved his finger to where there was a giant red circle. “And safe to assume it’s heavily guarded on the outside.”

Y/N studied the distance between where Ashton said the landing spot was versus where the base was. “So we’re landing about a mile out, and we’re just gonna knock on the front door, hoping they let us in?”

Ashton snorted. “God no. Well, kinda. Luke’s breaking in to shut down their security protocols. From there, Cal should be able to hack and override their system. Mike keeps our path clear from the outside. Making our job,” he waved a finger between Y/N and himself, and Y/N gulped wondering how much he knew about everyone’s personal assignments, “easier for helping Luke get the hostages out.”

She breathed in relief. Good. Ashton was under the usual impression of personal assignments from previous missions, and not the other, slightly more complicated bit to the otherwise usual mission. Luke, with his ability to shrink and grow with the push of a button, courtesy of Calum and Michael’s technology, was the thief. The one with the power to get small enough to squeeze in anywhere unnoticed. Which set him up perfectly to gain security access for Calum, who could then override any system remotely, alongside piloting his drone for extra security coverage/fighting power. Michael usually hung back with Calum to keep Calum company, while being both an extra set of eyes, and an extra fighter with his hundred percent success rate as an archer. Which left super soldier Ashton, and non-super soldier, but highly trained martial artist Y/N to provide the bulk of fending off enemies. A ragtag team of not exactly super, but definitely better than your average SHIELD agent, SHIELD had dubbed the Avengers. “Sounds like we should get ready to jump then.”

While jumping was Luke’s favorite part of the mission, the rest of the team paled a little standing in the doorway of the jet, air rushing all around. But when Ashton yelled “Go!” they all jumped, Luke first with a whoop of “Showtime!” Y/N sucked in a breath, following Luke out and grabbing Michael’s hand to pull him after her, the ground hurtling upwards at her.

“Pull!” Ashton’s voice directed in everyone’s ears, and five parachutes deployed in unison, Y/N jerking wildly with the pullback.

“Whoa, easy there,” Michael’s voice was both in her earpiece and shouting above the wind, his hand squeezing hers. “You’re good, babe.”

“Ugh, I fuckin’ hate that part,” she groaned, her stomach churning.

“And I hate this part,” Calum groaned along with his sister, before all anyone heard was his feet hitting the ground and his string of curses as his body rolled with his landing.

“You gotta learn to land better,” Y/N and Ashton both scolded, as Y/N’s own feet touched down, and she ran a little with the momentum so she didn’t roll like her brother.

“You gotta learn to land better,” Calum mimicked as he picked himself up off the ground, shooting Luke a glare, “What are you so fuckin’ happy about?”

“That shit is the fuckin’ best!” Luke whooped in a whisper. “Fuck yeah! I’m pumped!”

“Good,” Ashton chuckled. “How do you feel about more flying?”

“Aw sick! Is Michael gonna shoot me?!”

“Not the way I’d like to,” Michael grinned sarcastically, reaching behind him for his bow and arrow. “Shrink down, giant man.”

While Luke shrunk down to the size of a tic-tac, Ashton started instructing Michael on where to shoot, but Michael brushed him off. “Yeah, yeah. Close enough to get him inside, but not anywhere that’ll draw attention. Cal, you got eyes yet?”

“Yeah, but I’m not gonna be able to get the drone in there until Luke gets in so I can hack the system.”

“That’s fine, I got it,” Luke said in the ear piece. “Cal, I’m on your right shoe. Lift up?”

Calum bent down to pluck up Luke, placing him carefully on Michael’s nocked arrow. “Just tell me where I’m aiming, Cal,” Michael said, breathing steadily as he pulled back his bow.

“Quarter inch to the right,” Calum directed. “If you aim low, Luke can run in from the ground, or if you aim high, there’s a branch that he can access the second floor from. Shooter’s choice.”

“Security’s on the second floor,” Luke and Michael both said, and with that, Michael inhaled, and on the exhale, sent Luke and the arrow flying towards Hydra, undetectable.

“And now we wait,” Ashton commented, stretching his arms up over his head. “Y/N, we-”

“Won’t have much time between Cal hacking the system and Hydra finding out. And Cal and Mike can only provide so much coverage while staying out of sight. So we’re on a time clock of maybe 5 minutes if we’re lucky. I know, Ash. I go left, you go right?”

He nodded. “Get ready to run.”

Y/N glanced at Calum. “How much time before Luke gets into the system for you?”

“Thirty seconds. Make it quick.”

She turned to Michael, tears brimming up in her eyes. “Aw, babe. It’ll be fine,” he chuckled lightly, kissing her.

“I know,” she answered in a shaky breath, resting her forehead against his, committing everything to memory from the sharpness of his green eyes, to the pink tint of his lips. To his calloused fingertips as they cupped her face, and the scratch of his beard under her own hand. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he chuckled again. “Now go kick some ass.”

“Luke’s in. 15 seconds,” Calum told Y/N and Ashton, so Y/N kissed Michael as deeply and fiercely as she could, clinging to every bit of those last 15 seconds. “2… I’m in. System’s down.” But Y/N wasn't ready to let go yet.

“Y/N!” Ashton growled harshly, dragging her by the back of her shirt and then shoving her forward. “Fuckin’ move!”

She swallowed her storm of feelings, shutting that part of herself off, and switched fully into Mission Mode, ignoring Calum's chuckle of “Damn, what kind of good luck kiss was that?” and Michael’s shy but proud, “I dunno, but I ain’t complaining.”

With the security breach came the storm of chaos that allowed Y/N and Ashton to enter the compound without raising any serious flags. With Ashton headed to the right flank, Y/N went left, and the first chance she had, she took it.

The Hydra soldier looked to be about her size, their attention not zeroing in on her until Y/N already grabbed them in a chokehold. “Sorry about this,” she whispered as she snapped their neck in a swift motion, then dragged them into a nearby supply closet. “Ash, Y/N, I located the hostages. Where are you?” Luke asked in the earpiece.

“Coming up on your right, Luke,” Ashton confirmed.

“Got in a small tangle, be there soon,” Y/N grunted as she started switching clothes with the body.

“God damn it, Hood…”

“Which one?” both her and Calum asked with an amused glint, their favorite little bit to annoy their captain.

“You know which one,” Ashton hissed. “Cal, time estimate. Mike, coverage report. Y/N, get a move on, seriously!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Y/N muttered before taking out her earpiece and stomping on it, leaving it with the dead Hydra soldier along with her tracker just outside the doorway of the supply closet. “Just not the way you think,” she then muttered quietly to herself before hurrying after the other Hydra soldiers, running for the back of the compound. “What the hell is going on?” she snapped at one of them, putting as much authority in her voice as she could.

“It’s the Avengers. Initiating protocol 78. Get in a vehicle and get out. 2 minutes until denotation.”

Denotation?! Son of a bitch… Ashton and Luke were still getting the hostages out. She had to warn them, but… SON OF A BITCH!

Y/N shook off the panic and kept moving, trusting that Ashton and Luke knew what they were doing, and that Calum and Michael could keep them safe and aware of the limited time before the whole base went up in a fiery explosion. Her priority wasn’t on the rescue mission anymore. It never had been. Hers was to carry out the original mission that had resulted in this mission in the first place. Get into Hydra. Learn what they had planned. Destroy them from the inside. But damn, it would be a lot easier if she didn’t have to hide it from the guys. Her guys. Her baby brother. Her boyfriend. I’m safe, she screamed in her head. I’m safe! Look after each other, please!

While she got herself onto a vehicle headed out, she caught a glimpse of Ashton and Luke herding people out through a side gate and into the neighboring woods.

“Hood, where the fuck are you?” Ashton hissed

“Which one?” only Calum responded, then, “Shit… Y/N?!”

“Cal, where is she?!” Ashton and Michael demanded at the same time.

“I- I don’t understand. Her tracker is still by the left side of the compound where she went in.” Calum started fiddling around with the drone, trying to find his sister with it. “Y/N? Y/N, do you copy?”

“Luke, take the hostages back to Cal and Mike,” Ashton instructed, his voice tight, but controlled under pressure. “Cal, where did you say she was last?”

“To your left. 50 yards. She should be right there, Ash, I don’t understand!” His voice was high with panic.

“I don’t see her,” Ashton reported, and there was a loud bang as he smashed his fist against something. “I don’t fuckin’ see her!”

“Maybe she’s on her way back!” Michael said hopefully. “Maybe she was helping clear the way for you and Luke. You know she can’t turn down a fight.”

“Heh,” Ashton chuckled. “Yeah maybe. I mean, these trackers and earpieces only stay on so well when you’re kicking some serious ass, ya know?”

“Exactly,” Michael chuckled in relief. “It’s Y/N we’re talking about.”

“Well let’s hope that’s the case, and that Ash is the fuckin’ Flash because guys… this compound’s gonna blow,” Calum spoke up, his voice still holding a small wobble.

“How much time?” Ashton asked, already running for an exit.

“40 seconds give or take.”

“Alright, I’m ou- whoa, shit.”

“What?!” three voices demanded.

“It’s Y/N’s tracker and earpiece. Just lying here in the fuckin’ hallway… and guys… there’s a body…” Ashton gave a small grunt as he flipped the body over with his boot. “Oh, thank God!” he laughed. “It’s not her! Probably just a scuffle where some of her gear fell.”

“Okay, well 1.) thanks for the heart attack and 2.) if it’s not her, then get the fuck out!” Calum yelled.

“Okay, but if it’s not her body then she’s fuckin’ missing, so where is she?!” Michael asked.

“She’s not with me,” Luke told them. “I haven’t seen her this whole time.”

“I don’t have eyes on her either,” Ashton chimed in, running as fast and far as he could before the compound blew.

“Cal, anything?!” Michael asked, now growing frantic as he scanned around, hoping to find his girlfriend lounging against some tree behind him. Safe. Laughing at her boys for ever thinking she was in harm’s way.

“No…” Calum choked, tears starting to spill down his cheeks. “C’mon, c’mon…” he prayed. “C’mon, Y/N, don’t do this to me.”

“C’mon, Y/N, where the hell are you?”

In the distance, Y/N heard the boom of the explosion, the vehicle shaking with the sound. She hoped her boys were safe and okay. And they were safe. But they were far from okay. Because what she couldn’t hear was Calum’s broken sob and Michael’s heartbreaking scream of her name.

~~~

The jet ride back to headquarters was heavy with tension. To keep his mind occupied, Ashton set to work getting statements from the hostages. Calum and Michael sat in their seats, every muscle tightened, faces blank and frozen, tear tracks running down their cheeks. Luke was the only one who looked remotely comfortable, lounging against the wall of the jet, legs stretched out, his index finger tapping an unrelenting rhythm against his jaw as he hummed to himself.

“Would you knock it off?!” Calum tried to yell at Luke, but his throat was rubbed raw, so it came out as a hoarse whisper.

“What? I’m thinking!” Luke defended.

“Thinking isn’t supposed to be loud.”

“What are you thinking, Luke?” Ashton asked, his own voice clear, but weary as he ran a hand over his face and then through his hair.

“Y/N’s not an idiot,” he started.

“Yeah, no fuckin’ shit,” Calum spat.

Ashton held up a hand. “Let him talk, Cal. Go on, Luke.”

Luke straightened up, drawing his legs up, and resting his arms across his knees. “She’s not an idiot,” he repeated, studying his fingernails to keep his mind on track. “She always knew what she was doing. So she would have known that the mission felt off.”

“What do you mean, the mission felt off?” Ashton asked.

“Oh, c’mon, Ash. You couldn’t feel it, too? We got in and out without running into anyone trying to stop us. They didn’t care that we were getting out the hostages. They were evacuating. They had whatever they needed and were going to blow the place up whether we were there or not.”

“Okay. And what does that have to do with Y/N?” Ashton continued to prompt.

“I’m saying she knew. So she went in search of any plans she could get her hands on. Anything that might have gotten left behind in the scramble to evacuate sooner than they had originally planned.”

“So you’re suggesting that instead of helping us like she was supposed to, Y/N went off to try and get us more information?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Hmm…” Ashton thought, mulling over Luke’s theory. “That does sound exactly like the type of shit Y/N would pull…”

“BULLSHIT!” Michael screamed suddenly, jumping to his feet. “THAT’S FUCKIN’ BULLSHIT!”

“How is it bullshit?!” Luke yelled back, rising to stand toe-to-toe with Michael.

“BECAUSE IF IT WAS TRUE THEN WHERE IS SHE, LUKE?! HUH?! DO YOU SEE HER IN HERE?! CUZ I DON’T!”

“Obviously she’s not with us,” Luke scoffed. “But she got out, that I’m sure of. She’s somewhere.”

“Oh…” Michael nodded, his sudden drop in tone frightening. “So, what you’re saying is that WE left her behind! Our teammate! His sister! My girlfriend! And we just LEFT her?!”

“It’s better than the alternative of believing that she’s DEAD!”

“Oh, cuz that’s SO MUCH BETTER! What your theory suggests, Luke, is that WE either failed our teammate by leaving her behind, or she’s dead. Regardless of which of those options is the truth, WE FAILED HER! Whatever happened to her is OUR FAULT!” His hands clenched into fists at his sides and he raised them, whether to hit Luke or the wall behind him, no one was sure. Then, a sob was wracking through Michael’s body, his fists dropping back to his sides as his body crumpled. “Oh, God,” he cried quietly, curling up on the ground, his body shaking with the force of his cries. “Y/N, I’m so sorry… It’s all our fault… Fuck, I’m so sorry…”

~~~

Five months later found Y/N in a place within Hydra where she had enough access to send word out to SHIELD about Hydra’s plans: the creation of the an undefeatable army made up of highly skilled super soldiers injected with a recently perfected and modified serum that made Ashton’s super soldier skills look like child’s play.

The same five months found 4/5ths of the former team, smarter than they were before, but at the cost of diminished spirits as Ashton laid the all too familiar manila folder in the middle of the table, with its pitch-black “MISSION” stamp in the center.

Michael’s fingers went out to graze the stamp, his eyes meeting Calum’s as they shared a weak smile, both of them missing the way Y/N used to call the folder stupid for stating so clearly what it was.

“We’ve received intel about Hydra's latest plans. It’s not good,” Ashton said, pausing for a sarcastic comment about how if Hydra was involved then of course it wasn’t good that never came. “They’ve not only modified the super soldier serum, they’ve also perfected it. A hundred percent success rate. Hostages don’t stay hostages for very long.” Again, he paused, waiting for a witty quip, but was only given nods of understanding. He let out a small sigh. “With the intel, we also got information of where their supply of the serum is, and where they’re making it. As far as our source knows, it’s just the one lab. Our mission is slightly different than what we’re used to as it’s a three-parter. The first part is pretty standard. Get in and release the hostages they have before they can be turned. The second part is also getting more information about the lab and the serum. We have to make sure that this is the only lab before we can go about initiating Part Three, which is destroying any and all labs we learn about. But today, our focus is on Part One and Two. Part Three will be carried out at a later date once SHIELD has time to go over everything and assess the situation.”

“After I get in to override security for Cal, I can start looking around for lab plans,” Luke decided. “If you can handle the hostages, Ash.”

Ashton nodded. “Yeah, I can handle that. Mike, I might need you closer to the action though, rather than staying back with Cal, and providing your backup there. If you’re up for it, that is.”

“I can get closer, it’s fine,” Michael replied numbly.

“Perfect. And how are those new trackers you and Cal have been working on?”

“Ready. And injectable. Once injected, Cal has access to turning them on or off, so we’ll never have to think about trackers again. Like potentially losing one…”

“And some of them can be fitted onto your arrows, yes? So maybe we can stick a lab worker or two with them?” Ashton followed up, ignoring the bitter edge in Michael’s tone.

“Yes.”

“Alright. We leave in a half hour.”

~~~

Y/N was patrolling around the upper deck of the Hydra base when both an alarm sounded and her earpiece crackled to life. “Security breach. Fuckin’ Avengers…”

“Secure the hostages and the lab,” came a different order.

“On it,” Y/N answered with several other voices, but she stayed rooted in her spot, knowing her old team’s moves by heart. Luke was somewhere in the compound, no doubt hiding in his shrunken version. Michael would have taken a closer position now for Ashton’s sake to help keep the path clear for Ashton to escort the hostages to safety. And Calum would be flying the drone, being everywhere the rest of the team couldn’t be, informing them of every move.

The familiar buzz of a drone a few seconds later came as no surprise, and she turned to the sound, grinning.

“Y/N?!” the drone’s speaker yelled in shock.

“Hi, baby brother,” she said, waggling her fingers in a wave. Then, her lips turned down in a mock-pout. “Sorry about this,” she told him, grabbing the wings of the drone.

“Yeah, me too,” Calum’s voice said, as he pushed a button that shot out an arrow as Y/N brought the drone down over her knee, cracking the device in half. She let out a slow hiss as the arrow passed straight through her shoulder, and then embedded itself in the wall behind her.

“Tell Mike to up your archery practice,” she told the broken drone as she dropped the two pieces, then took off.

“Y/N?!” Ashton, Luke, and Michael were yelling in Calum’s ear. “You found her?! I told you she was alive! Where is she, Cal?!”

“Bitch broke my drone!” was all Calum could come up with as a reply.

“Calum!” Ashton’s voice was sharp, Michael’s desperate.

“Give me a second, she broke my drone!” Calum grumbled, his relief about his sister being okay mixing with the rage only siblings could have for one another when one of them broke something of the other’s. “Okay, okay. Yes! Fuck yes! Whoohoo! Mikey-boy the tracker arrows work!”

“Of course they work,” Michael scoffed proudly.

“Well, I sort of shot through her, so I wasn’t sure if the tracker got in her, or the wall.”

“You shot my girlfriend?!”

“She BROKE MY DRONE!”

“You can build a new one,” Ashton told him with a sigh.

“You shot my girlfriend!” Michael continued to screech.

“I had to get the tracker on her!” Calum protested.

“Well, fuckin’ track her then, and get her out of there!”

“Cal, send me and Luke her location,” Ashton ordered. “Whoever’s closest tries to get her. But Luke, we gotta head out before they surround us. This isn’t like last time. They’re standing their ground.”

“She was on the upper deck on your side, Ash. She’s headed your way now, Luke. Towards the lab,” Calum reported, his eyes on Y/N’s tracker.

“Fuck, I gotta get out of here with these guys. Luke, get Y/N,” Ashton said, guiding a small group of hostages to safety.

“I’m in the lab, I got h- Oh, fuck me!” Luke’s words of hope died down as he glanced out the window of the lab. “I gotta shrink back down if I’m gonna get out of here. They’re fuckin’ swarming the lab. Ash, that’s good news for you because it means your path is clear.” He grabbed as many folders as he could gather in his arms, before hitting a button to shrink back down, just as Hydra soldiers muscled their way into the lab, looking around for anything out of place. “ ‘Scuse me. Pardon me. Just gonna squeeze past…” Luke talked aloud as he sprinted across the tops of boots headed for the exit. “You know, maybe I should get some of those trackers next time. Got plenty of feet to stab them into right now.”

“Duly noted,” Michael said, loosing a volley of arrows, sinking as many trackers into Hydra agents as he could. “Did you get Y/N?”

“No…” Luke replied in disappointment. “Ash?”

“No, I had to get out with whoever I could. Luke, you out?”

“Headed back now. I snagged some plans, if that’s any consolation.”

“That’s awesome, Luke. Thanks,” Ashton said, but there was a lingering note of dejection that they couldn’t get Y/N too. “She’s alive, and Cal got a tracker in her, which is more than we could have hoped for anyway.”

“I know. But still. Sorry, Mike.”

Michael shook his head, straightening his bow and quiver on his back before following after Ashton and Luke back to Calum. “It’s fine. Ash is right. We’ll work with what we got.”

“We’ll get her back. Don’t worry,” Ashton said, his words mostly directed at Calum and Michael, but also as a vow on his and Luke’s part. They’d get their girl back if it was the last thing the team ever did.

~~~

Y/N sat with her mouth set in a tight line as the nurse patched up her wound. “You super soldiers are all the same. The blank expressions. Immune to normal pain,” the nurse commented as they worked.

“Not a super soldier,” Y/N replied numbly, feeling the thread pull her skin back together. “Just a regular psycho.”

“Mmm,” the nurse chuckled. “And this was ‘just some light training,’ yes?” They gestured at the wound.

“Sibling rivalry gone too far, actually,” Y/N corrected.

“Mmm, well in my experience, few things come between siblings. You will be fine.”

“I hope so,” she muttered under her breath, but Y/N wasn’t so sure. How did she justify leaving her brother, her boyfriend, and the rest of her team in the dark about a mission they were all part of? How did she explain that she had to let them think that she had succumbed to the worst of fates? That she had to let them deal with the heartache of thinking she was dead, only to find out she was working for the enemy? SHIELD assignment or not, that wasn’t the kind of news she could just waltz back home with and offer up a simple “Hey, sorry I’ve been gone.” Y/N and Calum had suffered a lot between petty sibling issues, like when he first learned she was sleeping with his best friend, to much bigger issues regarding missions as part of the Avengers team. But this? Playing double agent while having to leave him completely in the dark? There was no coming back from this. And Michael… Oh, the betrayal he must be feeling. And mix that with the guilt and blind rage? If he was functioning at all, she bet that it was an ugly sight. A shell of the man she loved. Any ounce of humanity turned off to not drown under the pain.

Still, a part of her hoped that Michael or, perhaps even Calum, would turn against orders to try and stage a useless rescue of her, now that they knew part of the truth. And while she knew it would be a meeting that ended poorly on all sides, she could at the very least slip them a note. So back in the safety of her room, she quickly penned a note, then tucked it into her uniform.

~~~

Similar to last time, the ride back to headquarters was tense. Ashton kept busy by collecting statements from the hostages they managed to rescue. Then, he joined Luke in pouring over the statements and the documents Luke got his hands on in the lab.

Calum kept his eyes glued to the device that held the locations of all the trackers, watching the way Y/N’s blinked steadily.

Michael sat off on his own in sullen silence, his mind racing, hands clenching and unclenching into fists in a repetitive manner. He wanted to order the jet to turn around. To go back and get Y/N if he had to carry her over his shoulder himself. He was angry at his team, and himself for leaving her behind for a second time. Angry that he couldn’t stop failing her at every turn. But in the anger was a twinge of hope and relief. She was alive. Which meant that they could get her back. Luke had been right along. She knew what she was doing. But he still selfishly wanted her safe next to him. He wanted her laugh ringing out as she annoyed Ashton. He wanted to be able to smell her shampoo mixing with her sweat when she rested her head against his shoulder, complaining about how she couldn’t wait to get back and take a long hot shower. He wanted to be able to cover her cheeks in a blush as he whispered dirty words in her ear about the things he’d do when he joined her in said shower.

“Could you stop?” Calum asked, snapping Michael out of his thoughts.

“Hmm?” Michael hummed.

“The banging. Wanna stop?” It was less of a question and more of a command.

Michael looked down at his fists, noting the redness form along the outer edge of his palms and pinky fingers. “Oh, sorry,” he mumbled, placing his hands in his lap, not even aware he’d been banging his hands against the floor.

“I want her back too, Mike. Just as much as you do.”

Enough to break protocol and go rogue? Michael wanted to ask, but all he ended up saying was “I know.”

When they got back to headquarters, Ashton and Luke continued their work of looking over every word on every scrap of paper. Calum wordlessly joined them, his attention still held captive by the location tracker with it’s slow, steady blinks. No one thought it to be out of the ordinary, when Michael opted to head straight to the armory. Just hand waving and mumbles of “Yeah, could you?”s.

So Michael lugged the bag of gear into the armory, setting to the task of putting things out, and taking stock. But instead of putting his own gear away as well, he prepped it, having no intention of sitting around waiting for orders to be handed down. Not now when he knew where Y/N was. Fuck the rules and regulations. He was done with letting her down, letting her wonder why her team still hadn’t come for her. “Don’t worry, babe. I’m coming. I promise,” he mumbled under his breath as he left the armory, dropping his bag in the doorway of his room, then going to find the rest of the team. “Hey, Cal?”

“Yeah?” the man asked, not lifting his head.

“You got a spare one of those?”

“One of these?” Calum questioned, holding up the device.

“Yeah. I, uh… Just wanna be able to see her, you know?” he half-lied, making his voice crack for extra sympathy points.

“Yeah, course,” Calum nodded, pushing his way to his feet. He walked a few feet to a docking station that held various other forms of tech. “Here,” Calum said, grabbing one and logging into it. He tapped a few buttons until the familiar map pulled up. “This is just hers, and this,” he swiped across the screen to pull up a menu. “You can click to see the location of any tracker. We’re 1-4,” he twirled a finger to signal he meant himself, Ashton, Luke, and Michael. “And Y/N is 5. And the others are various trackers we got in Hydra agents today, or just not in use yet.”

“Thanks, Cal,” Michael took the device in his hands, then titled his head slightly towards Ashton and Luke. “I think I’m just gonna shower, then call it a day.”

“We’ll holler if we find anything interesting. Feel better, Mike,” Ashton told him.

“Night,” Luke mumbled, even though it was barely noon.

“Night,” Michael repeated, heading back towards the rooms, swallowing the rise of guilt of lying to his team. But they’d understand that this was something he had to do. Or so he hoped.

In his own room, he turned on music, then pulled a knife from his bag. Taking a few quick rapid breaths, he cut into the skin of his arm, prying his tracker loose. Hissing through his teeth, he dropped the tracker on his bed before bandaging up his arm. “Fuck,” he shuddered. “Argh! Okay. Here we go.”

~~~

Not being able to risk taking out the jet, it took Michael until well after the sun went down before he came within sight of the Hydra base with its giant searchlights, both lighting up the place, and casting it in menacing shadows.

Michael ditched the motorcycle well before he needed to as a safety precaution, before creeping the rest of the way on foot. His breath came out in huffed little clouds as he headed straight for where Y/N was. If the tracker was as accurate as Michael wanted to believe, she was right where she was when she’d had her skirmish with Calum earlier. Upper level deck, left side.

It was only as Michael got closer, that he started to realize he had no plan for getting in. “Time for a distraction,” he whispered to himself, digging through his bag for a grenade. “Showtime, bitches.” He pulled the pin and sent the grenade flying. He crouched low, covering his ears, and waited.

There was a loud bang, and then a startled scrambling from inside the gate, as a couple guards rushed out to check what had happened. Michael snuck up behind one, covering their mouth with his hand and dragging them backwards. The guard kicked uselessly at the ground, thrashing about as they tried to get free from Michael’s hold until they finally went limp. Quickly, Michael took their earpiece, before swapping clothes with the unconscious guard he left slumped up against a tree.

“What was that?” a voice was barking in the earpiece.

“We don’t know sir. We don’t see anything,” a handful of voices answered.

“Well if you find anything, put a stop to it!” the voice barked again.

“Did you find anything?” a voice called out in the dark, a flashlight swinging in Michael’s direction.

“No,” he called back quickly, heart pounding in his ears as the flashlight stopped advancing. “All clear.”

“Stupid fuckin’ pranks…” the other voice grumbled, the flashlight retreating. “Headed back in,” the guard spoke into the earpiece. “All clear.”

“Copy that,” a different voice replied.

“Well?” the first voice demanded, the small beam of flashlight turning back to Michael. “Are you coming?!”

“Right! Yes!” Michael said, willing his feet to move, and controlling his breathing to not give away his excitement as he crossed into the Hydra base. He still had the problem of needing to get to Y/N and get them out without raising any alarms. Which started with first getting away from the group of three guards he walked in with without anyone stopping him. So, not thinking too much about it, Michael slowed his walk before stopping altogether. And when his guard counterparts paid no mind, he slipped his way between buildings, hiding in the shadows as he checked the tracker.

He walked purposefully towards the stairs that would lead him to the upper deck, hardening his gaze and sweeping it across the grounds, like he was just another guard doing nightly patrol duty. “I don’t know what Luke’s always bitching about. This shit’s easy and I’m full-sized,” Michael remarked under his breath as he climbed the stairs and rounded a corner.

At the end of the walkway stood a single guard, their hair obscured by the black cap on their head. But even then, it didn’t matter. He’d know her anywhere, in any disguise. It was the way she held herself, her chin slightly tilted towards the sky, her shoulders squared but relaxed, her right foot always slightly shifted more forward than her left foot. He opened his mouth to call out to her, but the words died on his tongue. Was he just supposed to say “Hi” like he hadn’t left her for dead for five months?

It turned out, he didn’t need to say anything, as he took a step in her direction, his boots echoing off the metal floor. She whirled around, her dark eyes zeroing in on him. At the very least he expected a grateful smile as her head tilted slightly to the side, and she blinked slowly, trying to determine if her mind was playing tricks on her. But instead, she just fixed him with a cold steely look that sent the wrong kind of shiver down his spine. He cursed himself as he faltered in his next step. He had never once entertained the idea that she could have been brainwashed in all this time. “Y/N,” he said slowly, holding up his hands. “C’mon. It’s me. Let me get you out of here.”

“You need to leave,” she spat.

“Not without you.”

“Michael, I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

“Don’t make me do this…” she whispered, bowing her head ever so slightly.

“Do what? I’m here to take you home, babe. C’mon!”

She crouched, tilting her head so her eyes met his. “Final warning.”

Michael shifted a protective stance of his own, raising his fists. “So this is really how you wanna have this reunion, huh?”

“It’s the only way.”

Michael dodged as her fist came swinging at his jaw. “Fine. Have it your way, then,” he growled, throwing his own punch that landed on her body. When she huffed in annoyance and slight pain, an apology was ready to fly off his lips.

She used his pause to tackle him, the walkway rattling with the force of his body hitting the ground. “C’mon, I know you hit harder than that,” she taunted, connecting a rapid succession of blows against his upper torso.

He twisted underneath her, bringing up his arms to block her hits. “Just come with me!” he begged, as he threw his arms forward, sending her skiddering backwards off of him.

“I can’t!” she yelled, charging at him again.

He did his best to block her attacks, but some hits still found a place to land, small grunts leaving his mouth at each connection.

“Fight back!” she yelled again, aiming for his jaw.

“No!” He snatched her wrist, as her knuckles started to brush into the side of his face. “I’m not gonna fight you, Y/N! This is ridiculous! I’m not trying to hurt you! I’m trying to save you!” he tried to reason as he spun her body so her back was flush against his chest, holding her tightly to him. “Baby, it’s me,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s me. It’s Mike. C’mon, baby. Come back with me. Come back to me. Please.”

A growl ripped out her throat as she brought one of her feet down on one his with as much strength as she had. And when Michael doubled over in pain, hearing the crunch of bone, her other leg kicked backwards, nailing him squarely in the chest, knocking him backwards.

“Y/N?” a voice sounded in both of their earpieces. “What’s going on?”

Y/N’s chest heaved as she stared down at Michael, who stared back up at her, struggling to find his breath. “Nothing,” she told the voice, before turning her back on Michael.

“Y/N,” Michael croaked out uselessly, coughing. His mouth tasted of blood and every part of his body felt like it was on fire.

He had no recollection of how he got off the compound and back to his motorcycle. Just like he had no recollection of driving all night back to Avengers headquarters.

He was, however, somewhat aware of his teammates' gasps of surprise when he dragged himself into the foyer of the building, as his body slumped against the cool tile, and he finally blacked out.

~~~

“What the fuck were you thinking?!” Ashton thundered, his hand coming down hard on the table.

Michael stared blankly past Ashton, not bothering to give a response. Ashton didn’t care about the answer anyway, and it didn’t change anything. And now he understood what Y/N was doing, and she was trusting him to keep what he knew to himself.

Upon his arrival, Michael had slept for close to two days before finally waking in the infirmary, his body still badly battered, but his pain at a manageable level. He had trudged his way down to his room, rummaging through his things when the note fluttered down. With shaking fingers, he opened it, reading the hastily scrawled words, “It’s the mission. I’m safe. I love you,” in Y/N’s handwriting. He barely had enough time to shove the note in his pocket before Ashton was knocking on his open door, looking more pissed off than Michael had ever seen. Wordlessly, Ashton had jerked his thumb in the direction of the conference room, and wordlessly, Michael had shuffled after him, ready to accept whatever fate awaited him.

“Well?!” Ashton’s voice cracked like a whip as Michael did nothing but blink at him.

“What was I thinking?” Michael asked, his voice soft. “Oh, nothing really.”

“Yeah, no fuckin’ shit, Mike!”

“Oh, lay off!” Calum snapped, coming to Michael’s defense. “Mike did exactly what we all wanted to do, but were too scared to do. He tried to get her back. If you wanna fault him for that, Ash, then you’re a bigger jackass than we all thought.”

Ashton sighed, sinking into his chair. “I’m not faulting him, Cal. But what he did was reckless. It could have jeopardized all the work we’ve been doing. I get that it’s Y/N, but we still have a job to do. No one person is bigger than the mission, even if she is your sister. I’m sorry.”

“Fuck you,” Calum said with a sad shake of his head. “Fuck. You.”

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, Ash,” Michael said, his voice still soft. “Can I go?”

Ashton rubbed at his face in agitation, letting out a small scream. “Yeah,” he said, his voice muffled by his hands. “Yeah. Go. Whatever. I don’t care.”

“So you’re just giving up?!” Calum asked, his angry and broken expression sweeping across his team. “Just like that? We’re done?”

“Until we get our new orders, yes,” Ashton told him.

“That’s BULLSHIT!” Calum exploded. “You!” He turned, jabbing a finger at Michael. “You’re just gonna walk away?! You go rogue to rescue her on your own, without me, and now you’re throwing in the towel too?!”

“You heard Ashton,” Michael shrugged.

“Oh, you’re so full of shit! All of you! Fuck SHIELD and fuck you lot! It’s Y/N! She needs us! She trusted us! How many times are we going to keep failing her?!” Tears fell hot and fast down Calum’s face. “Please!” he begged, his voice cracking. “We have to do something besides sit on our asses! Mike, please! You can’t give up on her! C’mon! I thought you were on my side! Mike! It’s Y/N… please…”

“No, it’s not,” Michael said bitterly. “It’s not, Y/N. This,” he gestured about his beat up body, “is not her.”

“Fuck you!” Calum cried into his hands, and let out a muffled scream of heartbreak and rage. “I fuckin’ hate you!” He raised his gaze to shoot Michael his best death glare. “I hate you, do you hear me?! I fuckin’ hate you! You’re giving up, you fuckin’ coward! You’re supposed to love her, you fuckin’ bastard!”

Michael tried to bite his tongue as Calum continued to hurl abuse his way, but the last few words of the attack cut deep, and he couldn’t keep his composure any longer. “I gave up?! Me?! I’m the only one who wanted to go back for her five months ago!” Michael went off. “I’m the only one who went back for her a few days ago! Not Ash! Not Luke! Not you, her fuckin’ brother! ME! I went back! So fuckin’ listen, and listen good when I tell you that everything that makes her Y/N is gone! It’s useless, okay?! She’s Hydra’s now. The quicker you learn that, the better.”

“I FUCKIN’ HATE YOU!”

“ONLY BECAUSE YOU HATE YOURSELF MORE AND YOU KNOW IT! We all have to live with what we did. You have to live that you didn’t have the guts to go save her yourself. I’m not gonna carry that guilt for you, Cal. I’m not carrying any of your guilt, or Ash’s, or Luke’s. Because bottom line is I fuckin’ manned up when she needed us, while you three sat on your asses. So go ahead and hate me. Say I jeopardized the mission, or that I failed her. I don’t give a fuck. Because at least I fuckin’ tried, which is better than the three of you can say.”

Michael could hear Calum’s scream echoing off the walls as he hobbled back to his bedroom. He could also hear, or rather feel, the slam of Calum’s own bedroom door a few moments later.

Michael eased his way on his bed, the sheets freshly changed after he had left his blood splattered tracker on it. He knew a new one had been injected in him at some point over his state of unconsciousness, and he briefly wondered if it was the same one he’d ripped out. No sense in wasting technology when it wasn’t broken, after all. Laying back into the pillows, Michael dug out the note, and the device that still had Y/N’s location, seeking comfort in her looped handwriting, and the steady blinking of the device.

~~~

It took another week before orders came down, and Ashton summoned them all into the conference room. Michael’s fingers brushed against the empty chair between him and Calum as he took his seat. It took more willpower than he cared to admit not to slug Calum when the other man growled lightly under his breath. He doesn’t know any better, Michael had to remind himself. If he did, he wouldn’t be acting this way.

Ashton set the manila folder in the center, and when no one moved, he dove right in. “Between the files Luke was able to get, all the statements we have, the information we’ve gained from the trackers, and the intel SHIELD has from their agent inside Hydra, we have all the information needed to bring this to an end, once and for all. This is an all hands on deck situation. SHIELD is officially running the whole operation. They’re taking care of the hacking and gaining control of Hydra’s operating system. They already have a unit assigned to deal specifically with destroying the lab. Our job is pretty simple. We’re just soldiers.”

“Actual action?” Luke asked, leaning forward slightly.

“Actual action,” Ashton said, smiling a bit. “Something I‘m sure we’ve all been itching to do for quite some time.”

Luke pumped his fist, “Fuck yeah!”

“And Y/N?” Calum asked.

Ashton sighed. “Based on personal experience, we can assume she’ll be fighting for Hydra. So yes, it’s a good chance she’ll be around. Ideally one of us comes across her before the rest of SHIELD so we can subdue her, and get her out safely. But she’s not our priority, and yes, before you start, I tried to convince SHIELD into letting us specifically deal only with finding Y/N and getting her back. But all I got in response was bureaucratic bullshit about how we were being employed to do a job, and how we aren’t exactly in a position to ask for any favors.”

“So play good little soldier, but if we see our chance, take it?” Michael guessed.

“Yes, exactly. And Mike-”

“I’m not fighting, I know,” Michael cut him off. “Do I at least get to come and hang out wherever we set up base camp? Help with security, and the like?”

“Yes, of course. You’re not being punished, Mike. You’re not fighting because you don’t have medical clearance. But you’re still coming along. All hands on deck.”

Michael nodded. “Cool. That’s… Cool. Thank you.” He was fully expecting to be benched, and expected to stay behind. A lesson from SHIELD about how even the Avengers had to follow their orders. But getting sidelined only because he was still injured? Well, that… Fuck, he could handle that no problem.

“Be cooler if we can finally get my sister back…” Calum muttered.

“We’re gonna try, Cal,” Ashton said.

“You said that last time, and look what happened.”

“So… half hour til take off, yeah?” Luke asked.

“Not quite,” Ashton chuckled. “We leave tonight to meet up with SHIELD at the base camp they’re setting up just outside of Hydra’s radar. Then we go in just before dawn. I’ll give a 30 minutes heads up before we head out though.”

~~~

After the worst night of sleep he ever remembered getting, Michael got up just as the sun was beginning to brighten the sky from a dark purple blotch sprinkled with stars to holding soft shades of pink around the edges.

He stumbled his way to the cafeteria tent, finding the rest of his team at a table, each clinging to their coffee cup like a lifeline. “How’d you sleep?” Ashton asked, as Michael took a seat.

“Like absolute shit,” Michael answered honestly. “You’d think for how high tech SHIELD is, the bastards would have found a way to make camping missions less miserable.”

“Gotta cut expenses somewhere,” Ashton chuckled darkly, taking a sip of his coffee. “Fuckin’ bastards…”

“Fuckin’ bastards,” the other three repeated in agreement as a group of higher ups appeared in the entrance of the tent.

“First wave rolls out in 10 minutes,” the one in the middle barked. “Report to your positions, and standby.”

Everyone in the tent gave half-awake salutes, and the group of higher ups continued on their way. Then slowly, between stifled yawns, people started getting up from tables, dumping their half eaten breakfasts, and half drunk coffees, before going to their places.

Luke drummed his hands on the tabletop, a grin breaking across his otherwise tired face. “It’s showtime, boys!” he whooped before pushing himself to his feet. “Let’s fuckin’ go!” He rested a hand on Michael’s shoulder, dropping his voice into a low whisper, “We got ourselves a girl to bring home.”

In spite of everything, Michael couldn’t help but laugh at Luke’s infectious enthusiasm. “Stay safe, guys,” Michael told them as his three friends joined the rest of the crowd dashing off to their assignments.

Only after the last man had cleared out, did Michael finally get up himself. He made himself a tray of breakfast, before going off in search of one of the security tents. “Anything I can help with?” Michael offered the first person who looked in his direction. “Michael Clifford. Avenger.”

The SHIELD agent looked Michael over, with the boot on his foot, face still sporting a small bruise, and scoffed. “Here,” he said, shoving a clipboard in Michael’s hand that wasn’t clutching his tray of food. “This is a list of everyone involved in the operation. Those of us staying to do security are already accounted for. But the rest have been given strict instructions to check back in when they return. Whenever that is. You can be in charge of checking them in by the triage tent.”

“Gee, thanks,” Michael muttered, tucking the clipboard under his arm. “Triage is…?”

The agent pointed to a tent with a giant hospital cross decorating the top.

“Cool. Thanks.” Michael forced a tight-lipped smile before making his way over to a long table set up just inside the coverage of the hospital tent.

“Back already?” another SHIELD agent asked, pulling a clipboard close to them. “Name?”

“Oh, no, I’m helping you guys with check-in.”

“Oh. Have a seat, then.”

“Hey, is Y/N Hood on this list by any chance?” Michael asked as he took a seat.

“Nobody by the name of Hood has been checked in yet.”

“No, yeah, I know. I meant… is she on the list at all? Like are we expecting her to be one of the people checking in.”

“You’d have to check the list. I dunno, sir.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Of course. Thanks anyway.”

“No problem.”

~~~

The sky had transitioned into a soft blue, the sun peeking out from behind the trees, suggesting that at best it’d only been an hour, maybe two since Michael took up residence at the triage tent. But it felt like a lot longer, and if something didn’t happen soon, he was going to lose it.

From his spot, he could hear the engagement of combat and gunfire, so he knew the mission was well underway. But, God, waiting for everyone to get back was so fuckin’ boring! And it wasn’t that he wasn’t used to being the one hanging back, because he was. But this wasn’t hanging back to provide back up. This was just waiting. Painfully boring waiting. His breakfast lay next to him, discarded and half picked over.

He was about three seconds from excusing himself to the bathroom just so he’d have a reason to get up and walk around, when a laugh rang out. A laugh he’d know anywhere. “Y/N?!” he shouted, scrambling from his chair.

The laugh paused, turning into a soft gasp. “Mike?!”

“Y/N!” Michael shouted again, rushing as fast as he could in the direction of her voice. “Y/N!” he called out for the third time, happily as he saw her pushing her way through a small group of SHIELD agents returning to camp.

“Mike!” she shrieked, before running full speed towards him.

He got his arms open just in time for her to crash into him. “Ow, ow, ow,” he winced as he hugged her tight.

“Oh, my God!” she said, holding him out at arm’s lengths. “Are you okay? What happened to you? Where’s the rest of the team?” the questions fell rapidly from her lips. “Oh, Mike!”

“I’m okay. Somebody beat me up pretty good, but I’m fine. The guys are off helping SHIELD play soldier. Oh, God, you’re back! And you’re you!”

“Did you get my note?” she asked, nuzzling her face into his neck.

“Yeah, I got your note.”

“So you forgive me?” Her brown eyes were wide and soft, and maybe even a little fearful as she peered up at him.

“Of course, I forgive you. You didn’t have to go so hard as to break my foot, but of course I forgive you, baby. Fuck, I’m just glad you’re finally here. For good. Safe.”

They could have stood there forever in their locked embrace. And they would have if someone wasn’t clearing their throat to get the couple’s attention. “Ma’am, we gotta check you in.”

“It’s fine,” Michael waved them off. “I got her checked in. It’s fine.”

The agent shrugged, and walked off.

“C’mon, let’s sit. We can catch up while we wait for the rest of the guys,” she directed softly.

~~~

“So Luke was the only one who believed I knew what I was doing?” she chuckled as Michael relayed the past five months of utter shit to her. “Remind me to thank him when he gets in.”

“Yeah, I probably owe him a proper apology for that still. Should probably apologize to Ash and Cal, too. A lot of things got said in anger that shouldn’t have.”

“At least you didn’t tell your best friend that you hated him,” Y/N pointed out, trying to calm Michael out of his remorse.

“Yeah, but still. We all sat around twiddling our thumbs until this last mission. I mean, we didn’t know what to do. We didn’t know where you were, or if you were okay. And when Cal told us you were okay like Luke had guessed, I dunno… I snapped. I thought I could rectify my mistakes by coming to get you myself. I never once thought that you were with Hydra on purpose. I hadn’t even thought you could have been potentially brainwashed by them. I just… I dunno. Went blind with rage and every other emotion I’d been swallowing since that first mission.”

She nodded understandingly. Then, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Anything.”

“How did you find me? When you came back on your own.”

Michael pulled the tracking device from his pocket, which he kept permanently in his pocket along with her note. “After the first mission, we upgraded our trackers. Well, we just used the technology we came up with for my tracker arrows, and injected them into ourselves. So that way it’s a little harder to dump,” he explained with a slight tease in his voice that made her giggle. “And we loaded some arrows with them too, obviously. I nicked a few Hydra agents with them. And Cal got you with the drone.”

“But when Cal shot me, the arrow went clean through me. He was too close. Entry and exit wound.”

“The trackers are set to eject at the first point of contact. Pretty nifty, huh?”

She hummed in proud approval. “Pretty fuckin’ nifty indeed. Fuck… I’ve missed you, Mike.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” he said, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her hair, breathing her in. “So fuckin’ much.”

“And I’m telling you,” a familiar voice growled, “that I have the bloody tracking device right here! She’s not at the Hydra base! She’s right… in… tada!” Calum said, sweeping the tent open.

Ashton and Luke’s eyes went wide, their mouths working to sputter nonsense. Y/N got to her feet, offering them all a shy wave. “Hey, boys.”

The magic words broke the spell, a giant grin painting each man’s face, before they were all rushing towards her in a gleeful cry of “Y/N!”

“Y/N, what the actual fuck?!” Ashton tried to scold but he was laughing too hard. “Do you have any idea how worried we were?”

“Sorry, Ash. SHIELD orders,” she giggled, hugging the man tightly. “Missed ya too.”

“So it was you! You were the spy on the inside! Fuckin’ brilliant!” Luke marveled. “Go in to rescue the hostages after our first spy betrays us, and replace them with a trusted Avenger. Wow… That’s fuckin’ genius!”

“So I take that as I’m forgiven for worrying you guys, causing you guys to fight amongst yourselves, and having to break Cal’s drone and Mike’s foot?” Y/N asked with a hopeful smile.

“Absolutely,” everyone but Calum told her.

“Cal?” she asked, turning to the man. “Baby brother? Forgive me?”

Calum narrowed his eyes, but there was no hardness to the expression, suggesting he wasn’t actually angry. “You owe me a new drone, first.”

“Deal!” she said, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. “Fuck, I’ve missed you guys!”

“Glad to have you back with us,” Ashton smiled. “Guys, let’s go check in, so we can all go the fuck home, yeah?”

“Yes, Captain!” they all saluted with a laugh, heading towards triage to check in, and check out.

“Fuck, I can’t wait to get home and shower,” Y/N complained, her right arm thrown over Calum, and her left one thrown over Michael as she trudged happily between her boys once again.

“A good, long, hot shower sounds perfect,” Michael whispered against her ear. “And I think I can come up with a couple of other good, long, and hot activities for us after that shower,” he added, nipping at her playfully.

“Mmmm,” she giggled, leaning into him. “Think you got the strength for all that?”

“For you? Always. And we have a lot of making up to do. Might take days.”

She shivered against him, causing the other three to groan. “At least wait until after we get home before jumping all over each other, yeah?” Ashton asked.

“No promises,” they answered honestly.

Ashton groaned again. “C’mon, let’s give them a minute,” he said with an eye roll as he guided Calum and Luke forward to the line to check in.

Michael wasted no time in their friends’ quick departures to hook his fingers under Y/N’s chin, guiding her to meet him in a fierce kiss, fingers knotting in each other’s hair, breath rushing out of their lungs. “Promise me you’ll always come back to me,” he whispered when they had to break apart to gasp for air, resting his forehead gently against hers.

“I don’t think I can keep that promise, because I’m never leaving you again.”

“Good, because I’m never letting you go.”

Tag List

@aquarius-hood1996 @creator-appreciator @philthepegacorn @myfavfanficsever @cxddlyash @youngblood199456 @stormrider505 @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @hoodhoran @metalandboybands @maybeememez @wiiildflowerrr

#come back #michael clifford #michael clifford fic #michael clifford x reader #5sos AU #avengers AU #5sos #calpal irwin

65 notes · View notes

hotchley · 3 years

Text

i’m not bulletproof

Jesus Christ why am I so dramatic? Okay, my laptop is very close to dying, so I am cross-posting this, hotchner’s hoodie and the waiting game, then I will be gone... until tonight

Umm... yeah. This was my second fic. It’s literally for my pinned because I’m dramatic </3

Trigger Warnings: referenced child abuse, canon-typical violence, violence towards children and references to child deaths, suicide

read on ao3!

It started, not with a case, but with an argument.

Jack wanted to go to a party. Hotch said no. He said no because it wasn’t safe, and the party was taking place on a school night, which meant Jack had to be in bed by ten at the absolute latest. He had hoped that by calmly and softly explaining his reasons for not letting Jack go, his son would understand why he was being told no and accept it with the same grace and dignity that he accepted most things in life.

Unfortunately, his son was a hormonal teenager muddling their way through puberty. And instead of accepting he couldn’t go, he kept pressing and asking why. On the third day of being asked, Hotch got irritated and raised his voice slightly, it became an argument.

“I just don’t understand why you never let me do anything,” Jack complained.

Hotch looked up from the budget report. He hadn’t wanted to bring work home- a remnant of the life he had once shared with Haley, but it needed to be done and he had wanted to spend time with Jack. With hindsight, it probably would’ve been better to stay at the office and let him stay with Jessica to calm down.

“I let you do plenty of things that aren’t irresponsible or dangerous Jack,” he replied calmly.

“But this party isn’t going to be irresponsible or dangerous, it’s just a bunch of teenagers. And doesn’t it count for something that I told you about it? I could’ve just snuck out the house and let you wonder where I’d gone,” Jack said, wildly gesticulating.

He closed the file. “I appreciate you telling me, but my answer is no. You may be responsible, but not everyone is. I don’t want you being exposed to drugs and alcohol before you’re old enough to understand the effects it has on you.”

“You let me be exposed to death before I was old enough to understand what it meant,” Jack spat.

Hotch paled, all the blood leaving his body and turning him into a frozen statue, unable to move as the memory of Haley’s dark hair- of course it was dark, she’d gone into witness protection- spread out on the carpet like a halo and her eyes, still open but almost like the glass eyes of those dolls from that one case, haunted his memory.

“What?” his voice was soft, dangerously calm.

Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “You heard me. You’re telling me I can’t go to a party, but I was just down the hall when mom died because of you. I’m not a little kid anymore, and you can’t protect me from anything anymore.”

“I can still protect you from some things,” he whispered, not making eye contact. The colours of the folder started to blur together as his eyes filled with tears. It was a morbid thought, but Jack’s words felt like the thorns his mother would throw in his side when she was angry at her husband and needed to let go of the pain.

“Well maybe I don’t want you to.”

“Jack, I’m still your father.”

“Are you? You’re never home at a normal time, you don’t know who any of my friends are, you always go on cases and leave me with Aunt Jess. Mom died because of you and your stupid profiling, but you still always answer when Miss Jareau phones, and you still go all around the country like I don’t even matter.”

“Of course you matter to me Jack. I love you more than anything in this world. But a profiler who catches the bad guys is who I am and-”

“I’m not five years old anymore. You’re not a superhero. You’re just the man that got my mom pregnant and sometimes makes me mac and cheese for dinner.”

Jack stormed off to his room before Hotch could say another word. He didn’t go after him, knowing that was the last thing his son would want. Rationale told him Jack didn’t mean a word of what he had said, that he was just angry and hurt, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was all true. Of course Jack knew how to hurt him, what child didn’t know what would upset their parents, but he was also right.

He wanted to go and hold his son, to let him go to the stupid party and tell him he would stop being a profiler, but he couldn’t. He felt frozen in place, unable to do anything more than bury his head in his hands and wonder where he fucked up.

Somehow he managed to get up and make them both something to eat- he went for stir fry instead of mac and cheese- before he went up to Jack’s room and knocked on the door.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” came the muffled response.

“I know you don’t. And I won’t make you.” I’m not your paternal grandfather, he thought. I won’t kick the door in and grab you by the back of your neck because you ran away. “I won’t let you starve though. Dinner is outside the door.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Hotch sighed. “Jack, please. I don’t want you to be angry at me.”

“And I want a real parent. We can’t always get what we want- isn’t that what you always say to me?”

Hotch had to step back, press a hand to the wall to stop himself from falling to his knees and crying. He wanted to tell Jack that wasn’t the way to speak to anyone, especially not an adult, but the words got lodged in his throat and he couldn’t speak, too scared of shouting or repeating the words his father had used the one time he had tried to fight back.

“I know,” he said instead, and walked back to the dining room. He pushed the plate he had set down away.

His work phone lit up with Dave’s name. He answered.

“Hotchner.”

“Is everything okay? JJ tried phoning you but apparently you didn’t answer all three times. She thought you were with me, and when I said you weren’t, everyone got a bit panicked. In fact Morgan is on his way right now.”

Hotch felt bad for making everyone worry, especially given what had happened last time he hadn’t answered his phone and they had gone and looked for him. “I’m sorry. Everything’s fine. Do we have a case?”

He cursed himself for being stupid. Dave wouldn’t call if they didn’t have a case, even if all he wanted was for that to happen. For Dave to call once they had both gone home, just because he wanted to talk about something random.

“Yeah. It’s bad. Three kids have already been buried, fourth was reported missing twenty minutes ago. JJ will brief us on the jet. Morgan said he’s going to pick you up.”

Hotch was not stupid. He knew why Dave had said buried instead of killed. And whilst he hated the coddling, he couldn’t help but appreciate that he never needed to speak when it was Dave.

“Okay. How far away is he? I need to call Jess.”

“Garcia said ten minutes. She’s coming with us by the way.”

“Thank you.”

“Aaron. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Hotch ignored the warm feeling that came whenever Dave said his first name. “I’m fine. I promise.” He hung up before his answer could be profiled.

He had a short, polite conversation with Jess, then went to Jack’s room. He knocked to the theme of Harry Potter- Jack’s new favourite book series, courtesy of Reid. Whenever Jack saw Spencer, he came home with a glint in his eyes and a whole new shelf worth of books. And when Hotch went to chastise Reid for spoiling his son, Reid would give him the happy puppy eyes and he would relent.

“Let me guess. Aunt Jess will be here in twenty minutes, and you’ll call everyday. And you’ll hopefully be back as soon as possible.”

“I’m sorry buddy.”

“Don’t go then.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Then don’t apologise.”

He didn’t have a response for that. Instead, he headed to his own room to change. He entered the code to the safe- the day Jack was born, the month he was born, the year Haley was born and holstered his weapons.

Before he left, he tried to say goodbye to Jack properly. The bedroom door was locked.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said. The only acknowledgement he received was a grunt.

Morgan texted, saying he was outside. Hotch sighed, schooled his features into a somewhat neutral expression and headed down to meet him.

“Thanks for picking me up,” he said, once they had started driving.

“No problem. I have to ask, why didn’t you answer?” Morgan responded. “And you know I don’t want to pressure you to talk or anything like that, but everyone was really scared. We thought something had happened. I mean, Rossi was ready to get everyone from the FBI to look for you.”

His stomach twisted. They weren’t meant to worry about him. “I’m sorry. I was with Jack.” It wasn’t a lie. And Morgan was respectful enough to not profile the truth.

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

“We’re heading to Boston,” JJ said, once they boarded the jet.

Hotch nodded, taking the file from her, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach. Boston. One of those places he would never not associate with terror, blood and death. Just like Georgia. And Milwaukee.

“Over the past three months, three teen boys have gone missing from three different cities. They’re all pretty similar in appearance, all come from pretty similar backgrounds. All were found in their local parks. No evidence of torture or sexual assault. The only reason anyone made the connection was because of a conference, where two of the detectives spoke and realised something was up,” JJ explained.

Hotch nodded, feeling nauseous. He wished he had tried to force down some of his dinner. Then he opened the file and was suddenly glad he had skipped his meal.

For when he looked at the pictures, both from the crime scenes and of their smiling faces, all he could see was Jack. Dark blonde hair, light green eyes, wide smiles. He closed his eyes, focused on his breathing and looked back at the files. Focused on the victimology. Teenage boys, but no evidence of sexual assault. Mothers weren’t in the picture, either they had passed away or not received custody after the divorce. The fathers were all in high pressure jobs, most of them spending more time at the office than at home.

“Excuse me,” he said to no one in particular, heading to the toilet.

JJ gave him a concerned look but let him go without a word.

To keep up appearances, he flushed the toilet and let the tap run to make it seem like he had actually gone to the toilet, as opposed to stare at his own reflection- tired, old, broken, absent father- and remind himself to maintain some sort of control.

Rossi was stood on the other side of the door.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Hotch nodded, ignoring the taste of bile in his mouth. He didn’t want Rossi to worry about him. He didn’t want anyone worrying about him, but especially not his best friend. Because every time he did, it only served as a reminder of everything he wanted but couldn’t have. The day he realised he loved Rossi had been terrifying, for a number of reasons. He had told Haley by accident, and she had laughed and said he was probably the last one to realise. She had told him to go for it, but he had been a coward and refused. It was another broken promise he had made to her.

“Are you sure? Because you don’t look great. And you sounded distant on the phone.”

“I’m fine. It’s just a thing with Jack,” he confessed.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. I want to get to Boston and solve the case.”

He walked away, unable to stand the look in Dave’s eyes.

Things went from bad to worse when they landed. Hotch had gone with JJ to set up in the field office, only to find out that all four dads were already there and ready to give whatever information they needed to help the investigation. And with JJ talking to the detectives about how to handle the media, he was tasked with speaking to each of them.

He ignored the looks the officers gave him when he asked to speak to them in a conference room instead of an interrogation room. He knew none of them were responsible.

After speaking to each of them, and promising to do his best to find the person that had taken their children from them, and bring the last one back home safely, he felt a pit in his stomach and a migraine starting to form. He had no idea when he had last eaten, or drunk anything, but he also knew he couldn’t handle anything.

Talking to the parents had made it almost impossible to remain professional. He saw himself in each of the fathers. They had all been working when their sons were younger, never fully prepared to tackle fatherhood alone. They had all argued with their sons just minutes before they were taken. When Hotch asked them how they felt after they argued, they all responded with some version of the word bad. When he asked why, all parents argue, they told him they felt like their own parents. It had been like staring at a mirror.

“My son died thinking I hated him,” the third parent had whispered. “What kind of person does that make me?”

Hotch softened his gaze and his tone, clearing his throat before he replied. “Your son didn’t die thinking you hated him. You’re nothing like your own father. All children argue with their parents. He knew you loved him and you cannot blame yourself for what happened. We’ll find the man who did this and bring him to justice.”

The man had just nodded before leaving.

Hotch left the conference room, and was greeted by Rossi.

“Dave. I thought you were still at the M.E’s office.”

“We finished up there. You should listen to your own advice every once in a while.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, already brushing past him to go and talk to Prentiss about what they found at the last crime scene.

“Jack doesn’t hate you. No matter what he may say.”

Hotch turned, ready for an argument, when Rossi raised his hands in surrender.

“I didn’t profile you. But I am your friend. And the only thing that would make you this tense would be something with Jack.”

“Now is not the time to talk about it,” he hissed.

There hadn’t been any DNA found on the scene, which meant they only had a profile to go on. After a quick dinner, that he didn’t really eat, Hotch told everyone there was nothing more to do, and even if there was, they were all exhausted. Rather reluctantly, everyone headed back to the hotel, where it immediately became clear they would be doubling up.

“We can have a girl’s night!” Garcia exclaimed.

JJ and Prentiss laughed, but took the middle room, which for some unknown but helpful reason had three beds.

“Come on pretty boy, you can tell me all about that book you read on the way here,” Morgan said.

Reid’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Morgan nodded, taking the cards and slinging an arm around Reid’s shoulder. Before they left, Hotch called out for him.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“We forgot his birthday. Listening to him is the least I could do.”

“Not just for that. Thank you for coming to check up on me as well.”

“Hotch, you may be a drill sergeant, but you’re still my friend. And JJ may have yelled at me after she found out what I said to you about trusting people. We’re cool man.”

He nodded. “Go, Reid’s practically exploding with excitement.”

“You going to stand there watching them all night, or are you going to get some well-deserved sleep?” Rossi teased, suddenly behind him and pressing a card into his hand.

“You seem awfully chipper for someone who hates sharing a room,” he said as they went to the elevator.

“I don’t mind when it’s you,” Rossi said.

Hotch blushed, ignoring the way the words made him feel, ignoring the look in Rossi’s eyes that left no room for doubt, ignoring the way his heart sped up and the lack of space between them as they were crammed into a tiny elevator.

They both dropped their bags down. Hotch immediately sat on the bed, knowing Dave would want to shower before he went to sleep. He smiled as his friend- because that was all he was, all he would ever be- left and opened up the case file. Yes, he had told everyone to go to sleep, but something was bugging him.

“You can at least loosen your tie,” Rossi teased from the doorway after he had showered.

Hotch turned and felt his throat go dry. He was only wearing a towel, hair still dripping. “I- what?”

“Tie. Loosen it. Actually, better yet, take it off. Go for a five minute shower. And then sleep.”

“Rossi, I can’t.”

“You can and you will. Don’t make me phone Jess and put Jack on the line.”

That convinced him to get a move on, but not for the reason Dave was smirking at.

There was so much blood everywhere, but he couldn’t work out where it was coming from. He couldn’t move. He was completely trapped, the weight of a body on top of his. There was a flash of something silver and then so much pain. He couldn’t show any fear, but the pain, oh the pain, it was so overwhelming that he couldn’t help but scream. All that existed in the broken home of his mind was that pain and the fear and the terror and that sudden, blood-curdling, chilling realisation that this was how things ended; this was how he was going to die. But someone was calling his name, who would be calling his name that urgently, Haley had Jack and-

“Aaron!” Dave yelled.

Hotch’s eyes flew open and he tried to kick the duvet away, only to find himself tangled in amongst the sheets and blanket and why couldn’t he move, why was it so dark, who was touching him, where was Jack- he was working the case, he needed to save him-

“Aaron, it’s Dave. You’re in a hotel room in Boston for a case. Jessica is at your apartment with Jack. Breathe with me.”

“Dave,” he whimpered.

“That’s right. That’s good. Just keep breathing. It was just a nightmare.”

“M’sorry for waking you up,” he murmured, clinging to Dave’s t-shirt like a lifeline.

“Nonsense Aaron. We all have nightmares. Remember what I told you all those years ago?”

He did. It had been the first case he had worked with the BAU that had involved victims of abuse. He and Dave had been sharing a room when Hotch had the first of many nightmares involving cases. Dave had woken him up, given him a glass of water and told him the nightmares reminded him he was human, that he felt, and however scary they were, however the case ended, they had done their best. There was nothing to be ashamed of.

“Yeah. That if I have a nightmare, I should remind myself of the people that love me and of all the good things I’ve done.”

“Good. So let me start off that list for you, because it’s a very long one. Jack.”

Hotch snorted. “He hates me. I told him he couldn’t go to a party because he’s not old enough and he said I wasn’t really his dad and that it was all my fault Haley was dead. I dreamt about him you know? Foyet. But it’s been two and a half years, I should be over this, shouldn’t I?”

“You’ve always been open with Jack. He knows what will hurt you, and that’s why he said those things. He’s angry. But he loves you. And as for Foyet? He stabbed you nine times. He killed your wife. You don’t ever have to move on, not if you don’t want to. But you have to learn to cope. Let us help you cope. Let me. I’m your friend.”

There was that word again. Friend. He hated it. He didn’t want Rossi to be his friend, not anymore, but how was he ever supposed to look him in the eye and confess that? It would ruin everything. Rossi would probably tell Strauss, who would fire him, and then he would have nothing.

“Yeah,” he ended up saying.

“Besides, every parent bans their child from doing something. At least you haven’t told him he isn’t allowed to date until he’s thirty or explore his sexuality. And don’t give me that look, you know you would be okay so long as they were a good person and he was sixteen and being safe.”

“I guess.”

Rossi patted his shoulder and Hotch didn’t even try and pretend that the touch hadn’t made him tingle. It had been so long since someone had touched him- it was always him hugging Jack or touching his shoulder. He thought of that time Reid had talked about being touch-starved. Was he touch-starved, or was he just an adult with a schoolboy crush?

He laid awake for the rest of the night, unable to do much more than close his eyes for a few moments.

They found the unsub the next day. And they bought the boy home safely. But Hotch couldn’t find it in him to be happy at another case solved. Because it hadn’t been successfully, not completely. The unsub- a man in his mid-forties- had been abused. And when he saw those children, who argued with their fathers over something trivial, he had snapped. He’d wanted to save them from his own fate. When Hotch tried to explain that the fathers weren’t bad people, that the children didn’t deserve to die, he hadn’t listened. When he tried to relate, the unsub realised what had happened. And seeing no other way out, he’d turned the gun away from Hotch and to himself.

Hotch couldn’t help but shout no as the bullet released.

“Strauss approved us staying for one more night,” Rossi said when they got back to the hotel.

“That was nice of her,” JJ said.

“God, I need a drink,” Prentiss complained.

“We should all go for a night out. It’ll be fun. And I’m here for once, so I can’t even complain about missing out,” Garcia said.

“That’ll be nice. Reid, you’re coming, no excuses,” Morgan said.

Reid shrugged. “Sure, why not. I’ll remember every embarrassing thing you do, so just be warned.”

Everyone turned to Hotch.

“Come on sir,” Garcia pleaded.

“I shouldn’t,” he said.

“Hotch, if they’re making me go, then you have to come,” Reid replied.

“It’s one night Aaron. And you’re not a newbie anymore,” Dave said, placing a hand on his lower back to steer him away from the elevator.

He blushed, both at the incident that was being referenced and the placement of Rossi’s hand.

“I’ll go if you don’t bring that up,” he reasoned.

Rossi nodded. Everyone else looked curious, but Hotch shot them all his famous glare, with a small smile to soften the blow. And then they left, still in the same clothes they had been wearing as they had packed up at the station.

Hotch had made it a rule that he didn’t get drunk in front of colleagues. He’d drink enough alcohol to keep them off his back, but he wouldn’t allow himself to become even slightly intoxicated when they were present.

Some cases made all the rules go out the window. It was the only defence he had for getting absolutely shit-faced.

At some point he had loosened his tie, so he didn’t really understand why Rossi was complaining so much as he pulled him into their room and started complaining about the way he dressed.

“If Garcia can come on a case wearing a cat-ear hairband, I don’t understand why you need to always need to wear a suit,” he complained after he got the shoes off.

Hotch grinned. “It’s like my superhero costume. It protects me from people finding out who I really am.”

“Wow you really are drunk.”

“Is it bad that I’m drunk? I told Jack he couldn’t go the party because of the alcohol and he said I was being stupid. Maybe he’s right. I am stupid.”

“Why can’t you ever just stick to being a happy drunk? Why must you always go from happy to crying?”

“Are you mad at me too? I don’t want you to be mad at me. I care about you too much. I don’t think I could stand it if you were mad at me. Not when Jack’s mad at me- did I tell you about that? I think I did. He’s mad at me, Haley would be mad at me if she could see me now, so I can’t have you being mad as well.”

“Haley wouldn’t be mad at you.”

“You’re wrong. She would.”

“Oh, really. Why?”

“Cos I told her I liked this person and she told me to go for it but I was too scared of being rejected and ruining the team that I didn’t. At least, that was I told her, which is the other reason she’d be mad. I semi-lied. I was scared of rejection and ruining the team, but I was more scared that they’d be like my father. He caught me with a boy once. Only once. I was too scared after that. It’s stupid though, this person is as far from my father as you could get.”

At the mention of the person, Hotch went back to being happy. Rossi smiled, still wrestling with the suit jacket, unwilling to make his friend move his arms lest he break the spell and made that smile vanish.

“You going to tell me about them or do I have to profile it out of you?”

“Wouldn’t do that,” he slurred. “Too nice to. Unlike Gideon. Gideon never followed the rules. But you- you may be a pain in the ass, but you follow the rules that matter like not profiling us and not pushing and not using our pasts to get to an unsub.”

Rossi snorted. “Thanks Aaron. It’s nice to know I’m not like Gideon.”

“Be weird if you were.”

“Why’s that?” he had got the jacket and the tie off. He untucked the shirt and unbuttoned the top one, knowing Hotch wouldn’t want any more than that done.

“Cos I love you. I love your stupid notebook and your Italian cooking and your don’t-be-stupid voice and your stupid face and how you’re always nice to me, even when I’m being stupid. I love you Rossi, and I wish you’d love me too, even though I’m a mess who-” the rest of his sentence was cut off by a yawn.

Rossi had no idea what to say. He’d never come out to the team because there had never been a need to. Yes, he had three ex-wives, and only wives, but that was because he hadn’t been able to marry any of the men he dated, and times had been different then. He hadn’t wanted a long-term thing with any of them.

But now, Aaron was drunk and confessing his love, and it occurred to him that he did love the younger man. He had just never realised.

“I’m a mess who can’t get the voice of their father out of their head long enough to ask you out on a date,” he murmured, falling back onto the pillow.

Rossi opened his mouth, but Hotch was already asleep. He sighed, brushed the hair off his forehead and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “Sleep well.”

The morning came, and with it, a pounding head.

Hotch woke up with a groan, immediately pressing his hand to his temple.

“There’s aspirin and a glass of water on the night stand,” Rossi said.

Hotch blinked the sleep out of his eyes. “Wha- why do I need it? What happened?”

Rossi stopped, his coffee halfway to his mouth. Hotch looked away. Not the time.

“How much of last night do you remember?”

“We went to the bar. I- oh. I drank far too much. I’m sorry. Had the others gone by then?”

“No, but they all agreed to spare you the shame and not mention it. Do you remember anything else that happened?”

“You were the one to bring me back. And after that it’s all a bit hazy.”

“Do you want to try and remember or do you want me to tell you?”

Hotch paled. “What did I do?”

“You told me you loved me.”

Hotch fell off the bed trying to scramble away. He noticed that Rossi had left him in his clothes, thank goodness for small mercies, but the sheet got tangled in his legs. Rossi stood as he managed to stand up, his head still pounding and the light making his vision hazy.

He felt a hand on his arm and managed to force it off. “Just let me go, Dave, please.”

“No. We need to talk about this.”

“What is there to say? I told you I love you. But you’re this amazing, caring, funny, handsome straight person and I’m me. Please just let me go. I’ll file my transfer when we get back, but I can’t be here and watch as you reject me,” he said, walking towards the door.

“Aaron. Stop.”

He froze. Rossi had never bossed him around, even when he’d been the newest profiler that was still learning the ropes. But god, there was something about his tone that made him want to fall to his knees and do whatever he wanted. He’d been still for too long, Rossi would have realised too.

“Turn around and look at me.”

Aaron wanted to resist, wanted to run out the door and never come back, but something in him- probably the part of his brain that was self-destructive- made him turn back. And the sight that greeted him made his heart stop all over again. Rossi didn’t look angry or upset. He didn’t look like he was about to hurt him or force him to explain why he was such a coward.

He looked happy.

“I don’t understand, why are you smiling at me?” he whispered.

“Because I love you too. I just never realised until last night when you were drunk out of your mind, terrified that I was going to reject you, that I realised all I wanted was to hold you against me, listen to the steady beat of your heart to remind myself that you were still here and never let you go.”

Before he could even process what was happening, Aaron had crossed the short distance of the room and had buried his head in his shoulder. Hesitantly, Rossi bought his arms around the younger man in an awkward hug.

“I don’t know how to do this,” Aaron confessed, staring at him with dark brown eyes, still full of the fear of rejection.

“We can work it out together.”

“I don’t know how to get over my fear, or tell Jack and the team- and what are we even supposed to tell Strauss, she’ll fire both of us and what about all the other things, like dates and the romantic things,” he rambled.

Rossi pressed a finger to his lips. “We’ll work it out. But that’s not the concern for right now.”

“Then what is?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Hotch nodded, suddenly feeling shy. “I’ve only ever kissed Haley. I doubt I’ll be any good.”

“I don’t want good. I want you.”

Without another word, Rossi placed his fingers under Aaron’s chin and tilted his head up. It was a chaste kiss, barely more than a brush of lips, but Aaron felt his heart speed up and fireworks explode behind his eyes. This. This is what he had always wanted but never had the courage to ask for, and now he had it and he just felt… good.

“We need to brush our teeth,” he decided once Rossi pulled away.

“Agreed.”

“Dave, what are we now? Because boyfriend seems immature, and I plan on telling Jack and the team as soon as possible so don’t even try and suggest lover. And other half is stupid, we’re both whole people without each other.”

“I’d like to think of you as my partner. That’s what we started out as- don’t give me that look you know I’m right- and it’ll always fit us. You the workaholic drill sergeant and me, the agent turned author turned agent-author with three ex-wives.”

Aaron laughed. “I have no idea how that makes any sense but okay. Partners. I like that.”

“It makes sense because it shows that we’re both adults that can depend on each other no matter what happens.”

“No matter what happens,” Hotch echoed.

It was going to be a long journey to undo all the damage his father had done, but he was willing to work through it. He was willing to do whatever it took to let him spend the rest of his life beside the man he could now call a partner.

The team essentially worked it out the moment they got on the jet. JJ just shook her head fondly, Reid smiled and told them that if they needed any advice he was there, Morgan smiled and patted Rossi, claiming he had his work cut out for him, Prentiss actually hugged Hotch with tears in her eyes and Garcia squealed and told them she was going to knit them matching scarves.

It was nice. Unfamiliar and different and scary, but nice. Rossi sat beside him, close enough so their shoulders brushed every time one of them adjusted the way they were sat. Every time it happened, Aaron smiled and blushed a little.

When they arrived back at Quantico, everyone at lot happier than they had been at the end of the case, there was an unfamiliar car in the lot.

“I haven’t seen that one before,” Reid commented.

“It’s probably just someone for Strauss. Let’s go, write the reports and go home,” Hotch said.

“Home. Sounds nice,” Rossi said.

Hotch went pink as Garcia cackled.

Since Emily’s return, it had become tradition for Garcia to sit with them in the bullpen as they did their reports, mainly to annoy them, and if she had accompanied them, to do her own report as she only managed to do them on the job when she was on base. They all headed to the sixth floor, everyone looking forward to the few days of down time they would have once they finished their reports.

It was still early- or was it late- enough for them to be the only people in the building. As everybody else set themselves up in the bullpen, Hotch and Rossi went up to their respective offices, Morgan still talking to Reid and Garcia about something. When Hotch walked into his office, putting his bag down with unnecessary force, Rossi winced.

“What’s going on?”

Hotch bit down the urge to say nothing. “Jack still doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“Why don’t you try phoning Jessica then? Maybe he’ll change his mind once he realises just how much you’re willing to sacrifice for him.”

“Maybe.”

“And I know Morgan drove you in, so once you’re paperwork is done, you’re coming home with me. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, but this case must have hit close to home. I’m dating you now, which means I’ve signed up for the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m sure Jess would love to spend more time with Jack anyways.”

He knew trying to fight was a bad idea, and the thought of going home to an angry and hurt Jack was almost too much to bear. Did it make him a bad parent? Maybe. But he was tired and he wanted to give Jack space.

“I’ll give you some privacy to phone him then.”

Hotch managed a weak smile, then dialled his home number. Jessica answered almost immediately. She sounded like she hadn’t slept and he wondered why he thought phoning her at three in the morning was a good idea.

“Hi Jess. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. It was a bad case that’s all. I should let you sleep. I’ll be back in the morning, well later in the morning so you can go once you’ve had breakfast if you need to do anything.”

She laughed, and his chest tightened. Her and Haley had been nothing alike, but when they laughed, it was like they were the same person. “It’s okay. I’ll stay for the whole day and let you get some rest. Jack, what are you doing up? Okay, get your water and then back to- actually do you want to talk to your dad?”

He heard Jack say no. Jessica made a few uncomfortable sounds.

“Jess, it’s okay. He doesn’t have to talk to me if he doesn’t want to. I get it.” He got that he was a useless father, that Jack had every reason to hate him and he didn’t understand why it had taken so long for him to start. He understood that he had failed to protect Jack and Haley, and that nothing he did now was going to ever make up for it.

“Are you sure? He’s gone back to his room but I doubt he’s sleeping. I can talk to him if you want.”

“No, just leave him. He’s allowed to be angry.” Because if you speak to him, you will stop seeing me as the angel Haley loved all through high school. You will stop seeing me as the man who has lost everything and start seeing me as the man who can’t be there when his son needs him, and the man that got your sister killed.

“If you’re sure. But before you go, just listen to me. You’re a good parent. And whatever Jack said, he doesn’t mean. He’s a hormonal teenager going through puberty. He loves you.”

“I know.” But did he really love his father? “I’ll see you in the morning then. Bye Jess.”

“Bye Aaron.”

Aaron. Sometimes he wondered where the lines between Hotchner- god, how he hated his surname, forever tarnished by the memory of his father and everyone in their small town who thought that little Aaron Hotchner was just the quietest little boy, just like his mother yet somehow the spitting image of his father, Hotch: the stoic leader that could be trusted with everything and somehow not collapse and Aaron: absent husband and father, the man that had loved and failed Haley, Kate and even Elle existed.

Sometimes he just felt like that little boy, curled up in the basement of a house that never felt like home, wishing he could just let go and cry for once. But he couldn’t. Not when he was aware that the team were watching him instead of doing their paperwork.

He finished it in record time, unable to look at the images of smiling teenagers for any longer than was necessary.

Dave was already waiting for him. Everybody else had gone home.

“Are you ready?” Dave asked.

Hotch nodded, unable to trust his own voice after having to read through everybody’s accounts of the victims, their parents and the unsub.

They drove to Dave’s in silence, Aaron having texted Jessica he was going to a friends but would hopefully back by late afternoon. He wondered again if he had made a mistake by letting Dave in. It would only be a matter of time before he realised Hotch was damaged and nothing in the world would fix it.

“Aaron, we’re here.” The sound of Dave’s voice, suddenly soft and gentle, lured him out of the darkness of his mind.

He got out of the car, still not knowing what to say. He wasn’t like Reid, who would rattle off statistics about any given topic when he was nervous. He wasn’t like Garcia who would keep digging a deeper hole when she was in trouble, or Morgan who managed to charm anyone with a few words.

Dave’s house, despite its size, had always felt homely. When staring at the wall where the bullet hole had been did more harm than good- and who was he kidding, that had been every time he’d sat there, surrounded by files- Dave’s house had always been a safe haven for him.

“I’m going to make some light breakfast and then try and get some sleep. Do you want anything? And don’t say coffee, I’m not letting you do anymore work until you get some rest.”

He shook his head, already sat on the couch.

Dave sighed, but he didn’t push the issue. Before he could leave, Aaron turned to face him.

“Dave?”

“Yes?” he was already in the doorway, minutely turning to see him properly.

“I’m having a bad day,” he whispered.

Rossi froze. Aaron Hotchner did not admit that easily. Only to him. Only when he was moments away from falling apart. He did not know whether to consider it a blessing or a curse that he was the only one trusted enough to piece him back together. He did not know whether or not he could do it this time. Things were different. He had only ever had to do this as a friend, or as a colleague. Never as partners- and wasn’t that ironic, he was the one to suggest the label but now it didn’t seem significant enough.

He walked back over, sat beside Aaron. Close enough so their feet- Hotch hadn’t even taken his shoes off- brushed, but far enough to let him move away if he wanted. He didn’t. He shifted closer, resting his head on Dave’s shoulder. Dave raised one hand to gently stroke his messy hair.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I’m meant too, aren’t I? Haley always used to say there was no point in being together if I was just going to hide from her every time I had a bad day. I know she was right, but I just don’t know how to talk about it. It’s stupid anyways.”

“Don’t do this. Don’t act like your problems aren’t as important because you’re supposed to be an alpha male. That’s only at work. Here, we’re just Aaron and Dave, two old men who never learned how to communicate properly, so they’re muddling their way through life.”

“I just don’t understand why you’re here. And I’m scared you’re going to leave, just like everyone else. I’m scared that the ghosts of my past are going to be too much for you to handle and that you’ll get tired of waiting for me to be comfortable around you. I’m scared of ruining what we have with my nightmares and scars. I mean, I have a son who’s a teenager now. You never even wanted kids. And I know it’s stupid, but I’m scared I’m never going to be able to repair my relationship with Jack. We’ve never argued before. I don’t know what to do. My father would hit me if I dared speak out of turn. I never learned how to be normal. What if I hurt him?”

He had curled into a ball, his legs pressed against Dave’s stomach. His voice had started shaking, and Dave felt a wet patch forming on his shirt.

“I won’t leave you, ever. We’re going to have problems, but I won’t leave, and I will spend the rest of my life waiting for you to be comfortable around me if I need to. I have nightmares as well, we can keep each other up. I love Jack and he loves you too. I have no idea how to be a parent, but you do. You would never hurt him. And I’m sure Jessica has already told you this, but he’s a teenager. You’ll know what to do when you see him. If you don’t, just ask him. He wants to be there for you.”

“Thanks Dave.”

“I love you Aaron. You never need to thank me. Now move off of me so I can take you to bed. You need a good night’s rest.”

He obeyed. Neither of them were about to believe Dave was strong enough to carry a fully-grown man to bed, so Hotch forced himself to stand and let Dave lead him to the master bedroom.

“You’re practically asleep already. I’m glad. Would you let me undress you?”

Hotch hesitated, but nodded almost imperceptibly. “Yes,” he whispered.

“I’m so proud of you. If you want me to stop, just say the word and I will.”

He started shaking as Rossi pushed his shirt off his shoulders, the final layer of armour stripped away from him. He closed his eyes, the tremors only stopping when Rossi pressed their foreheads together.

“You survived. You survived them both. And there will be more, there always is, but I will be here to catch you. Believe that.”

Aaron nodded, tears falling onto the duvet. He couldn’t express how glad he was that Dave wasn’t spouting some bullshit about how the scars on his torso and the lines on his back made him even more beautiful. He didn’t know how to say that though, which he was coming to realise the beauty of their relationship: they just knew.

Rossi was tucking him, having successfully changed him into pyjamas without any incidents when he realised he needed to address something from earlier.

“You’re wrong, you know that right?”

Rossi laughed. “About what?”

“Earlier. You said you don’t know how to be a parent. You do. I see it in the way you tease Morgan, curse at Prentiss in Italian, protect Garcia and JJ, listen to Reid and the way you treat Jack and Henry.”

“Get some sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.” He pressed a kiss to the other man’s cheek, then left. There was one more thing he needed to do.

Aaron awoke when he heard voices. It took a moment for him to realise where he was, but when he did, he smiled. Dave hadn’t left. He left the room, trying to find the source of the voices. The search led him to the same couch where he had started crying only a few hours ago.

“Jack!” he exclaimed.

Jack launched himself into his father’s arms. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so, sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that stuff, it isn’t true and I love you. I won’t go to the stupid party I swear but please don’t be sad. Uncle Dave told me the censored version of your case. He also told me that you two are partners and I’m really happy about that because he’s cool and I have a vague memory of mom saying you were silly for thinking he didn’t like you-”

“Buddy, it’s okay. Sometimes people argue. I still love you too. And yes, Dave and I are together now but you’re still my first priority. You always will be. So if you need me to take less cases or spend more time at home, then just tell me. We don’t need to let it explode like that.”

Jack looked sheepish. “I didn’t want to be a burden.”

“You’re my son. You’ll never be a burden to me.”

“Do you promise?” He looked so much like that little boy who believed his father was a real superhero that Hotch could only nod his affirmation.

“Will you stay for breakfast? Jessica dropped Jack here, but she said she’d go to give us some time alone and apparently he only ate a single piece of toast,” Rossi asked, almost nervously.

“Please can we do that?” Jack added.

Hotch nodded, letting go of his son. “Did you want any help?”

“No. Just go sit at the dining table and look pretty whilst you talk to your son,” Dave said.

Hotch flushed but obeyed.

Dave watched as Jack launched into a conversation about the pretty girl in his class and the tension Aaron had been carrying for far too long finally bled off his shoulders and saw as he went from FBI agent to loving father, eyes crinkling as he finally, genuinely, laughed.

There would be bad days. There would be arguments and reckless endangerment. There would be ghosts that would never leave them and fears that couldn’t be destroyed. But Aaron was smiling. And for one David Rossi, that was enough.

#criminal minds #aaron hotchner #hotch x rossi #david rossi #criminal minds fic #tw implied child abuse #tw violence towards children #tw child death reference #tw suicide #sumayyah writes cm

22 notes · View notes

evanoracronwell · 3 years

Text

Life as he knew it

Chapter 3 - We're gonna be okay.

Buddie♥

"Baby girl, this is your new family. Everyone, meet my daughter."

Also on ao3 (3/?)

If you had asked Evan Buckley 24 hours ago if he had imagined his life would be like this, he would have laughed in your face and called you crazy.

However, here he was, marveling at how his apartment - his bachelor apartment - had become a place completely ready to receive a child.

Explaining everything to those he considered his family had been far more chaotic than Buck had imagined it would be.. Karen, Carla, and Maddie apparently knew all the curses in the dictionary, and they had no problem saying them all. Hen and Chim were silent for a few seconds - probably imagining that it was all a joke - and then joined Maddie and Karen.

Athena and Bobby acted exactly as Buck would have imagined. Surprised, and then congratulating him on the news, saving any further comments for later.

And then there was Eddie. Eddie said nothing. For a few seconds - infinite seconds, if you asked Buck - he just said nothing. And then he raised his hand in a gesture for everyone to shut up and looked at Buck, with those serene brown eyes, as if inside he was no longer furious and more agitated than a storm.

"What do you need, Buck? How can we help?"

"I need to buy everything I’ll need for my daughter. Make this place safe for a child, find a lawyer to analyze these documents and the others that I’ll be getting. Damn, I need to choose a name, because that woman wasn’t able to do even that..”

And that was how Maddie, Carla, and Karen went out shopping like three women on a mission.

"Here's my credit card, Maddie..." "How much can we spend ?!" "As much as necessary, everything my daughter will need, Maddie. Don't worry about money." "This credit card is from that account that..." "Yes” - he interrupted his sister in a low voice so that no one could hear them -” so don't worry about spending. Whatever she needs; I mean it"

Hen and Chim volunteered immediately to go shopping for everything needed to make the apartment baby-proof. And well, who’s better than two paramedics to guarantee it was done properly?

Athena took the folder with the documents from Buck's hand, assuring him that she knew a child custody lawyer and would personally take those papers for him to review. Before Buck could even say anything, she had already walked out the door.

With that, only Eddie and Bobby remained.

Bobby, who went straight to the stove and started making something for Buck to eat, because he knew perfectly well that the men wouldn't have eaten yet and...

"You need to take care of yourself, kid, now more than ever."

And Eddie, who just put his hand on Buck's shoulder like he had when he had brought Chris after the tsunami, smiled as comfortably as possible, saying everything Buck needed to hear, without even saying a word.

"I'm here, Buck." "I have your back."

And now he was here, hours later with his apartment completely clean and safe for a baby. A crib installed next to his bed upstairs and a dresser full of baby clothes, everything needed to help with changing diapers, and a comfortable changing mat on top of the furniture. One side of his wardrobe had been completely emptied and now it contained diapers, more clothes (really, how many clothes did a baby need ?) And several other things that apparently a baby needed and that Buck hadn’t even known existed. His kitchen was like that too, cupboards full with baby cups, bottles, pacifiers, formula...

Because Buck was going to have a baby living with him in less than 24 hours. A baby... fuck.

"I still can't believe that I’m an aunt now! She is so beautiful Evan, just like you when you were a baby." Maddie sounded like she was three seconds away from bursting into tears

"Except for her hair; she has a shade of red that she got from her mother, mixed in with all that blondness."

"That woman is no mother."

"I know that, Karen. But what about my daughter? What am I going to tell her when she's old enough to ask?"

"The truth, Buck, you tell the truth. It will hurt like hell, but you need to be honest with her." Hen reached out to hold his hand for a few seconds.

"What matters now is that this little girl has you, Buck." Chimney smiled at his brother-in-law.”And she couldn't have wished for a better father."

"Damn, right. And when will the newest member of our clan join us?" Athena said in a happy and energetic tone, trying to change the mood of the conversation.

"The nurse said tomorrow; I need to prepare some documents that they need for the birth certificate."

"And a name"

"Yes, Maddie, and a name... I need to think of something."

"You’ll l find a perfect one for her, kid. I'm sure."

"Thanks, Bobby. I just... how am I going to do this? How am I going to be the father of a little girl? I have no idea what to do. I don't know how to take care of a child."

"Of course you know, Buck, you took care of Chris more times than I can count. You’re a natural. I don't know any child who doesn't gravitate towards you completely in adoration."

"This is different, Eddie; yes I am fun and great for spending a day with, playing with them and everything... but what about the rest ?!"

"Buck, dear, you’re being too hard on yourself."

"No, Athena, I'm being realistic. It's different."

"Okay, last week Chris had that stomach bug. He spent the whole night throwing up, tearful and angry. You knew I took an extra shift that night and offered to stay with him. Buck, you sat all night on the floor of his room, cleaned every time he vomited, bathed him and made him eat the soup that Pepa left for him, gave him the medicine at the right time, took care of him, and gave him all the attention and love he needed. You know exactly what to do Buck; you always knew.”

"Yes, but..."

"When Danny got that flu? You showed up at our house without us calling you. You took a plush of some cartoon that he liked at the time and a full meal for all of us because you knew we were going to be taking care of him and completely forgetting about ourselves, and then you spent hours with him watching all the cartoons he wanted just so that Karen and I could eat and get some rest. Eddie is right, Buck, if there is one person in this world who is prepared to become a father, it’s you.”

"Thanks, guys. I just... I don't know; I'm terrified."

"And it's okay to be scared, kid."

"But that's why you have us, Buckaroo, we’re here for everything you need."

"I know, Carla, which reminds me, I need to ask you if you know someone to refer me to as a nanny. Bobby got two weeks off from 118, but I'm going to need someone to look after her when I get back."

"Boy, you didn't just ask me that. Do you really think I'm going to refer someone else to you to take care of our little princess? Oh, no sir, I'll take care of that beauty myself."

"What? No, Carla, you already take care of Chris and..."

"We already talked." Eddie smiled.”Carla said that she can take care of them, no problem. And besides, Christopher is going to love helping."

"Oh, he's going to go all big brother with her."

"You bet!"

"Just take a deep breath, kid; you'll be just great, you'll see. And at the end of the day, you still have all of us ! We're all here to help you."

"Bobby is right, Evan. You’re going to be a great dad."

"Yeah...we're gonna be okay."

Sometime later, when he was alone in his apartment, Buck ran to the bathroom to shower and get ready, looking forward to going back to the hospital and seeing his daughter again. He couldn't wait to bring her home with him the next morning. Having her in his arms again made Buck's heart grow two sizes, and if he cried with excitement when the nurse let him feed his daughter for the first time, well... who could blame him?

Leaving a hospital with his daughter in his arms was definitely not something Buck had imagined doing so soon in his life. But as he drove through the streets of Los Angeles with the adorable little girl, making all the cutest sounds while lying in the baby car seat, Buck was sure that if he could go back he would have done everything exactly the same.

Yes, he would still have gone to that bar days after removing the cast from his leg, determined not to stay home feeling sorry for himself after Ali had left. Yes, he would still have accepted Taylor Kelly's company even if he couldn't drink himself. Yes, he would still have had sex with her in the bathroom - again - in that bar.

Because all of that had taken him to this moment, driving to his apartment with his daughter in the backseat. Just the two of them, because...

"Yes, Maddie, I want to pick her up alone."

"Yes, Karen, you can wait for us here in my apartment to meet her. All of you can."

"I already chose a name, but no Eddie, I'm not going to tell you!"

So when he opened the door he found all his friends there just like the day before, with the addition of Michael, May and all of the other children. There were balloons all over the first floor and a banner hanging from the window welcoming "Baby Buckley". There was a huge cake on the counter, with an image of a stork. Everyone was waiting with a huge smile to meet his daughter.

Because Buck was not alone. He had his family there beside him to help him every step of the way.

"Oh my God, Buckaroo, she is so beautiful. That photo did not do justice to how gorgeous she is." Athena approached as soon as Buck entered the apartment.

"My niece is the most beautiful baby in the world."

Maddie stayed close to Athena so she could see her better, both with huge smiles and tears in their eyes.

"Baby girl, this is your new family. Everyone, meet my daughter." Buck smiled, raising his arm a little so that everyone could see the baby, whose eyes were wide and curious.”This is Isabella!"

Nobody in that apartment could resist falling completely in love with the new member of the 118 family. Everyone approached to see her better and praised how beautiful she was while Buck sat on the couch to be more comfortable and hold her better in his arms.

"Oh Buck, she really looks just like you."

"Look at this birthmark; so tiny!"

"She is so adorable, she makes me want to bite those cheeks."

"Oh my God, mom, are you and Bobby crying ?!"

May exclaimed so loudly that everyone turned to see Athena and Bobby, who really had tears in their eyes.

"Give me a break, May, this is our first granddaughter." Athena waved her hand in the air, returning to focus exclusively on the baby while Bobby was beside her, nodding in agreement with his wife.

If Buck stopped breathing for a few seconds, no one seemed to notice; Athena had just called his daughter her granddaughter. His daughter. Granddaughter to Athena and Bobby. Of course, he had always seen Bobby as a father figure and consequently Athena as a mother figure, but knowing that the feeling was reciprocal really caught the fireman off guard.

The sound of crutches against the floor was enough to wake Buck out of his thoughts and make him smile as he saw Christopher approach, with Eddie beside him. Bobby and Athena smiled between them and then walked away leaving the three alone and went to the kitchen where everyone was preparing food for lunch.

"Chris has something he wanted to give to our new baby girl. Isn't that right, buddy?"

"Really, buddy? What do you have there?" Buck asked as he laid his daughter down in the baby nest bed beside him on the sofa.

"It's a gift for Isabella!"

With that beautiful smile that Chris always had, the boy handed the gift to Buck, who smiled even more as he took the package in his hands and opened it eagerly with both Eddie and Christopher’s eyes on him. Inside was the cutest little thing Buck had ever seen; it was a baby cow plush with little arms, and then in place of the body it was a shaggy, warm piece of fabric. Buck had no idea what it was, but he already loved it.

"It's a blankie or a security blanket. Chris had several of these when he was a baby, and it always made him sleep better." Eddie explained knowing that his friend didn't know what the gift was.

"This one was my favorite."

"Is this yours, buddy?"Buck asked, looking at Christopher with a puzzled expression, and when the boy nodded, stating that the plush was, in fact, his, Buck felt his eyes sting with tears. He looked at Eddie, who just smiled at his friend without saying anything.

"This is really nice of you, Chris; are you sure you want to give Bella your favorite blankie?"

"He protected me from monsters, Bucky, now he's going to protect Bella too. He was my best friend! Until you showed up."

"Oh buddy, you are my best friend too, did you know that ?! And I'm sure he will protect Bella just as he protected you."

"Do you think she'll like Moowie ?!”

“Moowie? You named him Moowie? Moowie the cow?”

“Yes, that's his name. Moowie. Do you think she'll like him?”

"Yes, I'm sure she will." He took the blankie to the baby, placing it right next to her. She looked at the plush with curiosity, then made a noise, apparently enthusiastic about the new toy.”See?! She loved her gift, buddy. I promise I will always keep it with her when she goes to sleep."

"To keep the monsters away!"

"Yes, buddy, to keep the monsters away."

Later, Christopher was sitting beside him on the sofa holding his daughter in his arms, with the biggest and most beautiful smile that Buck had ever seen on the boy's lips. Eddie was kneeling on the floor facing them, helping Chris to hold the baby while he played with Bella at the same time. All of his friends were around him, talking and laughing, like a big family.

Yes, Buck did not doubt that everything would be fine.

#buddie #buddie fanfic #buddie fic #evan buck buckley #evan buckley #Eddie Diaz #Edmundo diaz #buck x eddie #christopher diaz #buckley diaz family #lifeasheknewitfic #911 fox #911 on fox #911 fic #dad!buck #slow burn #but not so slow #English is not my native language #so please be kind with my mistakes

37 notes · View notes

ladyofpandemonium · 2 years

Text

i. into the lion’s den

series masterlist | fic playlist

There are only three things Satoru Gojo is good for: jujutsu, his looks and his sweet tooth. Kikusuian—yes, they truly do make the best kikufuku. Granted your taste buds lack experience in Japanese sweets, Satoru’s did not. So, here you were, munching on cream flavoured kikufuku while looking through the information you have gathered today.

A shiver zips down your spine, a frigid wave of fright over the recollection of your day stashed in the folder you’re flipping through under orange street lights.

This cannot be right… Your brows furrow. A grade one curse?

It can’t. The normality of being outmatched accounted for and still, the case is surely beyond your skill and grade. Taking this case… you might as well lay down and die granted your level of jujutsu. So, as you gather your belongings and finish the last of your sweets, you make a mental note to ask Ijichi to double-check your assignment once you catch him at the school tomorrow.

Just as you get to your feet, your phone rings. Drawing it from your purse, recognizing the caller ID, you consider declining Satoru’s call altogether. You hit the red icon. Then, you are on the subway back home.

“You were right, after all.” Says Ijichi, balancing a case file on each arm.

Relief washes over you, shoulders straightening as if there had been a physical burden weighing them down. You smile at Ijichi, gratitude tugging at the corner of your lips.

“It is still assigned to you.” He says, closing off the file and handing it back to you. You frown as he goes on, “Though, it isn’t a solo mission. Gojo’s going with you.”

“Oh…”

Even Ijichi sounds apologetic as he discloses your partner’s name, knowing you couldn’t be more irked with anyone else accompanying you on this mission. You may respect the strongest sorcerer’s abilities, trust in his powers and experience but, as a person, you truly wish you could slap that smug smirk off Satoru’s face. And, speaking of the devil…

“Y/N-chan~ We’re partners again!”

Everyone, at least everyone who you work with, has understood your lack of familiarity with Japanese honorifics as a foreigner. As an unspoken rule of some kind, your co-workers don’t refer to you with an honorific either. Everyone, except Satoru. For some reason, his use of an honorific gets on your nerves—an oddity you don’t understand nor care to ponder over. More likely than not, it must be the tone in which he addresses you.

“So it seems we are, Gojo,” You deadpan, sparing Ijichi of the new company as you walk out of his office with a simple, “Thank you.”

Satoru follows, as expected, with a little wave to an almost-apologetic Ijichi. He sounds ecstatic. Why wouldn’t he be? To you, his life’s purpose seems to be irritating you and the higher-ups seem to be in on it as if they don’t despise his antics as much as you do. When you set foot on Japanese soil, you did not expect the strongest sorcerer on the face of the earth to be quite this childish, downright obnoxious.

“Shall we go take care of penis power, then?”

Penis power? Is that what we’re calling the cursed spirit, now? You admittedly find the nickname amusing; suitable, even. However, you keep your face carefully blank and simply nod in response as Satoru skips down the halls with you like the overgrown child he is. Maybe it isn’t intentional, the skipping, and his legs are just that long. Though you don’t question where the nickname came from, you know he’s probably read your accounts of the surviving victims and come up with it.

As you unlock your car, Satoru slips into the passenger’s seat where he knows you’d rather he and his commentary not be. At least, if he sits in the back, you can pretend he is not there at all. Of course, that is something he cannot allow.

“Oh, and we must stop at Kikusuian again! You went without me yesterday.” Says Satoru, buckling his belt and clapping his hands together like an enthusiastic child. So that’s what the call was about.

“There is no need.” You mutter, sliding your keys into the ignition and typing the coordinates into your GPS. And though you had never intended to make any deals about a sweet shop, Satoru declares one as you steer the car onto the main road, leaving the school building behind with furrowed brows and a heavy sigh.

The closer you get to the building, the more your insides churn, recalling the first-hand accounts you’d taken into considering the day prior. There is something about the incidents that seem almost abnormal. At least, to you it does. You’re confident the man beside you has dealt with cases as such before. However, that aggravates you because he’s made it his personal business to mock you for checking with Ijichi. Yes, to the strongest, your nerves must seem laughable and you’ve just about reached your limit by the time the two of you come to halt in front of your destination under the darkening sky.

Shivers, one after another, race down your spine. The sheer aura around the perimeter has you freezing up. Even Satoru falls silent for a moment.

Then, he’s unbuckling his belt and climbing out of the car. You take a moment to compose yourself, then follow him, cursed weapon strapped to your arm under your coat, peeking through the sleeve.

The closer you draw, the denser you feel the cursed energy become. It’s so thick that maybe even the building’s crumbling is due to its weight. There’s also a stench in the air, one that you can’t put a finger on; it’s something putrid, a mix of sweat, blood and something musky. You grunt as it invades your senses, a hand coming up to pull your collar over your face. Satoru pulls his blindfold lower as if to cover his nose as the two of you march up the stairs.

“You know,” Satoru starts, taller despite being a step behind you on the stairs, “if you didn’t want to take the mission on alone, all you had to do was ask!”

“I value my life as well as my sanity, Gojo,” you retort, more focused on your surroundings than Satoru’s mindless chatter. He can afford to be unfocused; you cannot.

“Aww, no need to be shy! We both know I’m the strongest—”

You grit your teeth and cut him off, swiftly turning around on the tip of your foot, nearly falling forward into the tall man. You balance yourself, “Gojo, can you please focus!”

“I thought you wanted to scout since you went and took the lead. Buttt, if you don’t...” A pout finds itself on his face, morphing into a smirk as his hand reaches for yours and he pulls himself a step up the stairs, “Eyes on me, sweetheart.”

Though you know for a fact Satoru can sense your anxiety—the shivers racking through your body every now and then, the rigidness of your movements, the way sweat has begun to settle on your brow—you don’t approve of the way he’s practically baby-ing you. So, you snatch your hand from his grip, taking a step back, “Let’s split up, cover more ground. You take it from the top; I’ll scout the bottom.”

And, then, you turn and scurry down the concrete stairs before Satoru has a chance to protest with the hope he won’t follow you. Even as you hear his sing-song voice call after you—“Gimme a shout if you find penis power!”—you scowl and, though you don’t admit it, your body senses the danger you’ve put yourself in by separating from Satoru, grip tightening on the trigger of your weapon.

next chapter

#prose of pandemonium ( my writing )#satoru x reader #gojo x reader #satoru gojo x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk fanfic #jujutsu kaisen fanfiction #satoru gojo #gojo satoru #fandom ( jujutsu kaisen )#ephemeral | g. satoru

5 notes · View notes

skiimmiilk · 3 years

Text

A/N: Another long ass ride timestamp. I’ve been a little too inspired by the NCT 127 seasons greetings and the new YouTube video they posted X_X. Will this be my first full series? Who knows :”D

[7:41PM]

“Absolutely not.” Doyoung doesn’t even look up at you from his computer which he is noisily typing away at.

“Why the hell not Doyoung?” You raise your arms incredulously, “I’m not going to sit around and watch you put your life in danger all the time. Especially in the name of our trash excuse of a father.”

“But you? Joining the Underground Services?” He raised an eyebrow at you, “I’m not letting you get involved in the black market.”

“Please, you already know I’m better than half of the other useless employees in the circuit.” You roll your eyes, “I can’t just sit here and get a regular job knowing all of this.”

He lets out a frustrated sigh, closing his eyes in hopes that you would stop talking, “I shouldn’t have let dad tell you about it..” He mumbles under his breath. Doyoung closes the laptop before shoving it into its holder, “This is the last time we are discussing this.”

You raise your eyebrows incredulously, letting out a scoff of disbelief. You follow him out of the office and down the hallway, “You’re kidding.”

“Don’t you get it y/n? You get a chance of a normal and safe life.” He looks at you, almost enviously, “Mom wouldn’t have wanted either of us in this business but our ‘trash excuse of a father’ left us with his position that needed to be filled.”

“Then why not both of us shoulder that burden? You don’t like it either.” You protest, hopping into the elevator.

“...I’m fine with it.” Doyoung says in a clipped voice.

“More like you tolerate it.” You mumble.

He sighs, “Fine, I tolerate it, but I don’t think you can. You already know what the black market is known for. Do you really want to put yourself at risk?”

“If it means that you don’t shoulder all the unresolved business our dad left us with, then yes.” The elevator doors opened once again and you two step out.

“Look, I appreciate it y/n. But as your brother, I literally can’t let you.”

“Smells like bullshit.” You roll your eyes.

“Then don’t stick your nose in places you don’t have business being in.” He chuckles, flicking your forehead, “Take out tonight? Or do you want me to cook?”

“Our fridge was empty last time I checked it so let’s do take out today.”

“Alright, I’ll order it. Can you pick it up and get some groceries on your way home?” He asks, flipping open his phone to answer some texts.

“Yea I guess so.” You sigh, “You’re not gonna come with?”

“I’m being called into HQ. We have a big transaction coming up so..you know.”

You roll your eyes, shaking your head in disappointment. Your brother greeted the clueless workers on the floor that you walked out on. The office that your brother worked at was a set-up by the mafia group he worked with. NCT was just a highly successful electronics company in the face of the general public, but behind closed doors, they were one of the big names in the Underground Market, otherwise referred to as the UM. Your father was one of the founders of this company and a member of the Underground Services, Unit 127, so upon his death, it was natural for Doyoung, and eventually once you convinced Doyoung, you would shoulder his position. Doyoung walked you to the exit before waving goodbye to you.

“Do you have your mace y/n?” He asked and in response you dangled the neon green cylindrical device in front of him.

“All good Doie~” You teased, to which he shoved you playfully in response.

“I’m still at work y/n..” He groaned, feeling the stares of the other floor members on his back.

“Yea, yea.” You smirk, shooing off his cries of displease, “I’ll see you at home!” You turned around, shoving your hands into your pockets with a little jump in your step.

“Text me when you get home!”

“Yes MOM!” You yell back, rolling your eyes at his antics, “I swear, it’s like I’m still 2 years old in his eyes.”

You squish your arms closer to your body, feeling the bite of the winter night against your skin despite wearing a jacket. It was decently lit with a couple people walking about along the streets, probably returning home from work or getting take out like you were. As you walked down the lit path, your hairs on the back of your neck stood for a second and you turned around only to find the street empty as you left it.

Weird..I thought I heard someone.

You gripped the mace in your pocket a little tighter as you sped up your pace. You reached the outside of a plaza you and your brother usually ordered from when you widen your eyes in realization.

“The idiot never told me what or where he was ordering from.” You groan and shake your head as you whip out your phone to call Doyoung.

~Back at the Office~

“Alright boys, so we have a couple candidates for possible new members to join the unit.” Taeyong, leaned across the long conference table at his members intently, “Doyoung, pull up the files on the screen.”

“Taeyong, I don’t really get the benefit of adding someone else to the team.” Yuta leans back in his chair, clearly not pleased with the idea of a new member, “I thought we were handling things just fine here.”

“Just listen to me. We need to have fresh faces every so often in our unit to keep our enemies guessing. I have two people I’m keeping an eye on right now.” Taeyong pushed himself off the table, “Show the first candidate Doyoung.”

Doyoung stood in the corner at the podium with a laptop shining in front of him. With a couple clicks, the first profile blows up on the big screen.

“Lee Haechan. 20 years old. Agile, quick on his feet and thinks even faster. Originally associated with local low tier gangs and was known to be the best of the best when it comes to strategic fighting.” Doyoung clicks through the presentation, showing Haechan’s profile and some videos of him fighting.

“What’s stopping him from going back to those gangs?” Jaehyun asks, his chin resting on his hand in thought, “How do we know where his loyalties lie?”

“All his previous gangs are dead. No associations or ties as far as my team knows.” Doyoung answers, “He doesn’t have any other ties currently, which would rule out the idea of him betraying us for an alternative group that he’s apart of.”

“It’s like he has a curse of death following him..” Mark whispers over to Jungwoo, still not entirely convinced either. The group murmurs amongst themselves as they let the idea of Lee Haechan in their unit.

I thought there was only one candidate.. Doyoung thinks to himself as he stares at Haechan’s profile and then back at Taeyong. What are you planning..?

“Now,” Taeyong clasps his hands together as he walks across the floor, “I know your waiting anxiously in your seats to see who the second candidate is..” His eyes flicker to Doyoung briefly before, setting down a manila folder from his bag on the table, “Kim y/n.”

“What?” Doyoung raises his voice, almost dropping his laptop, “Taeyong..I never approved of this.”

“You didn’t need to. She came to me herself with the proposition.” Taeyong shrugged, flipping through your files, “She’s pretty skilled herself. Her only flaw is lack of experience in this field but she’s a quick learner and smart.”

“I’d like to keep it that way.” Doyoung walks up to Taeyong, almost getting too in his face, “Take her off the list.” He growls.

“I agree with Doyoung here.” Taeil speaks up, sitting back in his seat after looking at the file, “She doesn’t know what she’s getting into. I’m pretty sure she only knows surface level information about what we do and the risks we take. Can she handle the potential consequences that we face whenever we step on the field?”

“Thank you!” Doyoung gestures to Taeil in exasperation, “She’s not meant for this.”

“I like her ambition and her anger.” Taeyong knocks the table before leaning back from the table, looking Doyoung in the eyes, “Gentlemen, look at the screen.”

Everyone’s attention is diverted to the screen as it switches to grainy CCTV camera footage of a dark street near a small plaza. To Doyoung’s horror, you walk onto the screen, stopping at the corner before the plaza.

“Taeyong, you are overstepping the line.” Doyoung hisses, grabbing the man by the collar, “What are you doing?!”

Taeyong’s eyes lazily make its way to meet Doyoung’s furious ones, “Relax, I’m simply testing something. Just watch the film.”

~Back on the streets~

You speed dial Doyoung’s number on your phone and you place the machine to your ear, waiting for him to pick up. You look at the call screen, curious as to why he hadn’t picked up already. Usually his hyperactive ass would pick up in half a ring, but maybe he was in a meeting? Your thoughts were interrupted when you felt a dark presence behind you and your first instinct was to elbow whoever or whatever was behind you. To your surprise, you felt someone’s ribs and the sound of someone’s breath escaping their lungs registered and you immediately ducked and swung your feet at his heels. Your perpetrator, however, dodged and jumped over your legs, landing a foot away from you.

“Do you..” The stranger groans in pain, “always leave people breathless when you first meet them?” His face finally shone in the light when he lifted his face into the streetlight.

You whipped out your defensive items and clicked a button that turned a small metal tube into a long staff, “You need to fuck off right now before I turn you into shades of blue and purple.”

“Ooo~ They gave me such a feisty target. I like it.” He grins, cracking his knuckles, “I like a challenge, so let’s last more than 5 minutes please.”

“Who..” You charged at him, swinging your staff at his direction, “are you?! And who the hell do you work for?” He neatly dodged your first swing, narrowly shifting out of range of your second one.

He tsks, jumping in place a little before diving for your mid and knocking you down to the icy concrete, “Classified information, sweetheart. I just gotta bring you in.”

You curl your feet beneath his abdomen and shove him over your head as you tumble over into a crouching position. You blow a stray strand of hair out of your face, pursing your lips in annoyance. He stops his fall and lands almost gracefully on the street. You go after him again, swinging all your strength at him and like a dance, he mirrored your moves easily dodging your moves. You purse your lips, wanting to get him off your ass quickly. A nice blow to the head should do it, but he was predicting you too well.

“Alright, it was fun playing with you but I have a deadline to uphold.” His eyes change and it’s his turn to attack. He flicks out a switch blade, the light reflects into your eyes off the shiny silver coating as you barely dodge his swipe. You wince, feeling the cold air meet the fresh cut on your temple. Your senses heightened and a wash of fear came over you as you dodged and weaved his blows. The fear of getting stabbed and getting hurt scared you because you didn’t want to leave your brother alone. If you were going to get out of here, you’d have to think of something and quickly. As you dodged his blows a blinking red light caught your attention from the corner of your eye and you glanced up at it.

The cameras are never on usually. The fleeting thought came to you and you almost shook it off when realization knocked into your thoughts.

“Come on, sweetie. I don’t have all day, let’s just get on with it~” The stranger giggled as he slashed forward to you. You bumped into a trashcan, knocking it over as you dodged his blow. He quickly turned around and dashed towards you, a determined look on his face. You made no move to dodge until the very last second. His breath hitched in his throat as he crashed into the knocked over trash can, tumbling on the ground. You slammed your pole onto his wrist, making him yelp in pain and let go of his knife which you kicked away in one full swing. The stranger growled, angry now that you pulled such a trick on him, but as soon as he looked up to face you again, he was met with an obnoxious green tube and a horrible burning sensation to his eyes. He screamed in pain as he doubled over, rubbing his eyes.

You relax a little letting out a shaky breath of relief and shoving the mace back into your pocket, “Rubbing makes it worse, idiot.” You hop on top of him, securing his hands with your belt and using your weight to keep him down on the ground.

“Taeyong! If this is some kind of sick joke, I don’t really get the punchline.” You yelled out in the seemingly empty streets. You heard a vibration coming from your captive’s pocket as he squirmed around underneath you, still groaning from the burning pepper spray that he received to the face. You pulled out the sleek black device and answered the number.

“y/n~ You make for good entertainment.” You could hear Taeyong’s amusement through the line, “We ordered some food already and had it delivered, so you and Haechan can come back to the office. We need to discuss some matters.”

“What-”

“What does it look like?” He glared up at you, eyes bloodshot and wild.

“See you in five.” He hangs up and you scoff shaking your head at the dark screen. You get off of who you could only assume to be Haechan.

“Are your eyes okay yet?” You ask blankly.

“You heard Taeyong, gotta go back to the office now. You dragged him up and started walking, “The red brings out your eyes. It’s a nice look, sweetheart.” You mock his tone of voice with the previous nickname he gave you.

“The hell.. Take your damned belt off of me.” He ran to catch up to you, trying to rip the fabric.

“No-pe” You pop the P at the end of your response, “Not gonna happen. I don’t really trust you to not jump me.”

A dark car pulls up next to the two of you and flashes its headlights at you. You stop watching the passenger door window roll down to reveal Johnny in the drivers seat and a very pissed Doyoung in the passenger seat.

“Both of your asses. In the back. Now.”

“Sheesh alright.” You open the back door and climb in, Haechan following suit.

Johnny glances back at the two of you, both ruffled and battered with an amused smile, “Looking good back there two.”

You both roll your eyes and Doyoung interrupts, “I don’t want to hear it.”

You turn to Haechan and nudge him, “My name’s y/n by the way. I don’t think I got the chance to introduce myself.”

Haechan raises an eyebrow, dryly laughing at your horribly timed self-introduction, “Haechan. I would say it’s nice to meet you, but I can barely see you right now.”

“Good.”

#nct #nct127 #nctu #nct haechan #nct haechan x reader #nct timestamps #nct imagines #nct mafia au #nct haechan au #mafia au #kpop imagine #kpop timestamp

42 notes · View notes

harryspet · 4 years

Text

little doe [4] peter parker

[Warnings] peter parker x named oc, mj fluff, a/b/o dynamic, dd lg dynamic, broken english, oral sex (male recieving), angst

A/N: I’ve been getting so much LOVE for this story and I appreciate it so much! I hope I can continue to please you guys with a few more chapters to this series.

In which chaos runs through the Parker household.

Like, reblog and let me know what you think!

word count: 2.8k

As MJ entered Peter’s apartment, she descended upon complete chaos. Something smelt like it was burning coming from the kitchen, she followed a trail of smoke to find a burning pot of soup that had turned black, “Peter!” She called but received no answer. MJ turned off the stove before walking into the living room. MJ had to watch her every step, there were random items strewn everywhere around the apartment, and she had to dust lucky charm marshmallow off the bottom of her shoes.

The living room was the worst of them all, everything was out of place, the couch was shredded in a few places, curtains off the rods, and everything torn off the shelves, “Doe?” MJ found the girl sitting in the corner, facing the wall, hands in her face, “Why are you in the corner?”

Doe turned her head, her face in a pout, and MJ noticed the mess her hair was and also the fact that there were red and blue markings on her hands, “Bad girl! Stay here! Don’t move!” She mimicked Peter’s voice and MJ noted that the girl was only wearing one of his t-shirts.

Peter’s words were echoing over and over again in Doe’s mind. She felt miserable.

“Why on earth would he say that?” MJ wondered what the hell had happened in the last week that she hadn’t been there. Peter had called her a few hours ago and everything seemed to be fine. Doe’s hands began to form into a balled fist and she nodded over to the middle of the room.

Peter’s most treasured prize, a lego version of the Millenium falcon, was now melted into the coffee table. She couldn’t even recognize it. MJ sighed, urging Doe to stand up. “Did not … mean it. Promise.”

“Of course you didn't. It’s okay,” MJ knew she couldn’t have intentionally done anything to hurt Peter, “Where is Peter?”

Doe shrugged and MJ reached to grab her hand, “Let’s find him.”

Doe pulled away from her quickly, “Peter is mad!” Doe couldn’t face him, not after what she did and how he reacted. The last week had been complete chaos. Her heat had been giving her serious mood swings and it didn’t help that Peter’s work had become stressful, “No, please.”

“Doe-” Before MJ could protest, Doe fell down to her bottom and planted herself there. She crossed her arms over her chest as she planned to hide from Peter for the rest of her life.

“Peter is mad for me,” Doe tried to explain again. MJ mentally cursed, the entire situation completely baffling her. Where the hell was Peter?

MJ sighed, “I promise he’s not mad at you,” No reaction, “Fine, just stay here and I’ll go find him.”

MJ kicked over a few misplaced pillows as she made her way out of the living room. She called for Peter as she walked down the hallway before she heard some rumbling around from his office. She wasted no time in knocking as she barged inside. Much like the living room, it was utter chaos, “Everyone in this house has clearly lost their shit,” MJ stated, watching him pace the length of the room, computer in hand. He hadn’t even noticed her walk in, “Peter!”

Michelle ducked as a web aimed right for her head thanks to startling Peter. Peter finally noticed she wasn’t some enemy and stared with wide eyes, “MJ? You scared me!”

“I’ve been yelling in the apartment for ten minutes! Is your Peter tingle not working anymore?”

Peter frowned but went back to staring at his computer. MJ noted his serious bed head and the fact that his shirt was on backward. There seemed to be million open folders tagged with red letters that spelled CONFIDENTIAL and Peter’s secret arsenal of the inventions Stark made for him was open, not hidden anymore by a bookshelf. MJ approached him, snapping her fingers, “Hello, earth to Peter!”

Peter flashed her an annoyed look, “What is it?”

“You told me to come over, remember?”

“Right,” Peter nodded, “I need you to watch Doe. I’m going … somewhere and I can’t think around her.”

“Is this about your lego toy?”

Peter scowled at her, anger welling up inside of him, “It’s not a lego toy! It’s an eight-thousand piece Millenium Falcon that Ned and I spent thirty hours putting together. Destroyed!” MJ rolled her eyes.

“She wouldn’t do it for no reason. She just doesn’t know how to control her powers-”

“She knows exactly how to control them,” Peter interjected, “What she doesn't know is how to handle her emotions. She tried to make a drawing of my costume on the wall and, when I told her she couldn’t do that, she exploded. She destroyed the apartment and, just my luck, the fireplace was on. She barely lifted a finger when she summoned that fire.”

MJ took a breath, Peter’s words sinking in, “This doesn’t mean you can tell her to go stand in a corner when you’re angry at her. She didn’t know how much that thing meant to you.”

“I didn’t-” Peter shut his laptop, tossing it on his leather couch, and began to rub his temples as he winced at the thought, “I forgot that I had. I’m not angry with her, MJ, my mind is just all over the place. Fury is torturing me and I can’t afford to slip up or he’ll show up here and find out about Doe.”

MJ nodded, finally understanding what had been going on, “Then I’ll stay here with her while you’re gone. You can get Fury off of your back and Doe and I will stay under the radar,” Peter opened his mouth to thank her but MJ raised a finger, “But first, you’re going to say whatever magic words she wants to hear because, for some weird reason, she likes you a lot and cares what you think of her. And as much as I like sadness and pain, she is the purest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on and she is the only person that I don’t want to see sad and in pain.”

MJ followed Peter as they went to search for Doe, who was hiding in the walk-in pantry. MJ leaned in the doorway and Peter crouched down where Doe had tucked herself. Peter brushed a piece of the girl’s bright hair behind her ears, “Peter is sorry for his behavior earlier,” MJ almost snorted as he referred to himself in the third person.

“Doe is sorry. Promise,” Her plan failed completely and it only took about twenty minutes as she wrapped her arms around Peter. He hugged her tightly and felt a lot of his anxiety melt away. Explaining to her that he had to leave for a few days would be difficult but he suspected MJ would make it easier.

“Things are going to be great when I get back, I promise.”

“Hate to make this awkward but both of you look like you haven’t showered in days so maybe we should tackle that challenge first.”

Peter was exhausted when he finally returned back from his two weeks later. He had barely slept the entire time and his muscles were aching, not to mention all the bruises that were still healing. He came in close to dinner time to find that the house was still put together, actually, it was cleaner than usual which was odd. That wasn’t the weirdest part because, as he entered the kitchen, he saw that Doe was wearing shoes.

“Peter!” Of course, Peter accepted her warm embrace but Peter noted her black combat boots, black leather jacket, and finally paired with, you guessed it, a black dress.

MJ looked up from her slice of pizza to say, “I couldn’t get her into pants, sadly.”

Doe was still tightly wrapped around him as Peter responded, “I think you’ve done enough, thanks. I should’ve known you’d turn her into a mini version of you.”

“Peter, we go shopping!” Peter shot a confused and accusatory look at MJ.

“You were cool with us using your credit card, right?” MJ took a calm bite of her pizza.

“You took someone with uncontrolled elemental powers out into public? What if something had happened?”

“It was only for an hour or two … on a few days. She had some anxiety but she got over it quickly. She’s super chill when she’s with me. Plus, you’d be awkward as hell if you had to bra shop with her.”

“MJ, we discussed this-” Before Peter could berate her, MJ grabbed her backpack and her slice of pizza and stormed out of the kitchen.

“Thanks for the pizza and the new clothes, Peter. Bye, kid!”

“Bye-bye, MJ! Good morning!” Doe still had yet to unwrap herself from Peter and, even as her babysitter left, she held Peter tight.

Peter huffed as he heard the front door slammed. He looked down at Doe who was smiling wide, “Pi-zza for Peter? Make happy?”

Peter nodded and they ate pizza together before Peter collapsed onto his bed with Doe in his arms.

Doe thought that since her heat had passed that she might crave his touch less but this was not at all true. The two weeks apart had her craving him and Peter didn’t seem to mind the extra comfort that she brought him after his long mission.

She told him all about her adventures with MJ in the words that she knew and that he could understand. It was all a bit jumbled but Peter still seemed to nod and smile though she could see the worry some of the stories had caused him.

She still liked kissing Peter. He never asked her too but she noticed the way he leaned in when they were looking at each other. He’d hold her head and push his tongue into her mouth, exploring her.

She couldn’t stop thinking as she paced the hallway, just outside Peter’s office, where he was video conferencing inside. She wasn’t to go inside which she knew but she could hear his voice from the outside. Hear the nervousness and crave to ease any anxiety that he had.

It was a total accident that a gust of air rushed past and the door cracked open a bit. She peeked inside to see Peter sitting behind his desk, his fingers tapping at his desk, as he stared at a hologram screen across from him.

She could tell that, whoever was talking to him, a pale woman with brunette hair, “I talked to him, I’m pretty sure he has nothing to do with this situation and, if he did, he wouldn’t have ... “ Peter’s voice trailed off as he saw a totally, conspicuous person crawling into his office.

Peter’s eyes met hers and his eyes became sharp as if to warn her without outward saying it.

“Parker?” Peter’s head darted back up to look at Maria.

“Yes, like I was saying …” Peter continued on the debriefing of his mission as he saw Doe crawl beneath his desk.

She couldn’t hide the fact that sometimes she enjoyed frustrating Peter. As her hands ran up his legs and she felt him flinch, she giggled to herself. His hand slipped under the desk and he waved his hand as if to tell her to stop. She only took his hand, slipping two of his fingers into her mouth as she slowly sucked on them. It was what he did to his own fingers after stimulating her sensitive parts with his hands.

Peter paused his speech for a second before, slipping his fingers away and wiping them onto his pants. He continued to talk to the woman as if nothing had happened. Doe positioned herself between his legs and set her head in his crotch, peeking up at him. Peter scowled down at her and she only blushed.

She nuzzled him into him like a kitten to its owner.

She thought much about what was between his legs and the fact that he never really insisted on her returning the pleasure that he brought her. She felt how it grew harder when she ground against him during her first heat and she felt it press against her bottoms in the mornings. He never let her touch it as he rushed to the bathroom in the morning to take care of it himself.

Doe felt it now, growing harder just because of her proximity to it. Peter continued talking and shifted uncomfortably but that only made it more visible to her. Doe sat back on her knees and began to run her fingers over the outline it created in his shorts.

“Well, we have other agents working this for now and - Peter? Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine- ah!” Doe wrapped her fingers around the outline, slowly stroking up and down. It was fascinating to her and her original plan to bother him for attention quickly took a turn. She wondered if it worked the same way as her private parts did, “I-I’m just not feeling well, Ms. Hill.”

“I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of your day, Peter. Expect a call from Fury sometime soon,” Peter nodded quickly as he reached to end the call.

Soon, the hologram disappeared but the problem at hand was even direr than the mission he was just sent on.

Peter rolled back in his chair and Doe emerged from under the desk, “Stay away, you evil girl.”

Doe only crawled forward, giggling, “Take care for Peter, please?” She positioned herself between his legs again, sitting up on her knees as her hands reached for the member growing in his pants. It felt a bit softer now and Doe frowned but a few more touches from her, it was hard again.

Peter’s breath hitched in his throat, “Do you even know … what that mouth of yours would do to me? What your hands would do?” He would kill her, he was sure of it, but at least he’d die happy.

Peter thought for a moment before slipping down his pants and his boxers, letting his hard member spring free. Doe wasn’t sure what she was expecting but she didn’t expect he’d be hiding all of this inside of his pants. Peter took her hand and gently wrapped it around the base of his cock.

“Touch it like this,” He instructed her, trying to hold in the sounds he desperately wanted to release. She moved her hand up and down slowly, twisting as he showed her how “You can use your hands or your mouth but both are better … much better. Open your mouth, Doe.”

Peter leaned forward, holding her head, as she opened her mouth. Peter stuck two of his fingers into her open mouth, “Good girl,” he praised her as he went deeper. He was surprised how deep he went before she even gagged and an evil part of him, deep down inside of him, liked that very much. He liked seeing her eyes wide like this and saliva dripping down her chin, “Suck and move that tongue around.”

With some coaching, she easily obeyed.

“That’s what you want to do with me … okay?” She nodded, bringing her mouth towards Peter’s member. She took him into her mouth, “Move that tongue around, Doe -ah! Just like that.”

His moans were encouragement enough as Doe swirled her tongue around his tip before fully taking him into her mouth. Peter gathered her bright hair in his hand, pushing it from her face, so he could see her clearly as she devoured him, “Keep those eyes on me, little one.”

And she did.

He wouldn’t last long like this, he knew it, but Doe seemed to gain more control, not needing much guidance as she eagerly took him in deeper. She was … supernatural.

She gagged as she took in the whole length of him but she kept her tongue swirling around his base even as her eyes watered from the lack of oxygen. Peter almost lost it then but she pulled away with a gasp, “Good, Peter?”

“So good, Doe. So good.”

Doe giggled and went back to tending to him, bobbing her head up and down with the guidance of Peter’s hands wrapped around her hair. He could only handle a minute of it before his hips were bucking and he was releasing into her mouth.

Peter opened his mouth to tell her she could spit it out but he watched as she swallowed it all and with little complaint. Doe was satisfied knowing she could take care of Peter in this way now. She stood up and crawled into his lap, straddling him.

“What am I gonna do with you, huh?”

“Kiss Doe?”

Peter smiled and pecked her lips.

Doe felt like a princess.

Hope you enjoyed! Reblogs will probably be added to the taglist or send me an ask if you want me to be added! Check out my master list for more of my Peter fics.

#dark peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker x oc #dark fic #dark Peter x reader #peter parker smut #spiderman #mcu smut #mcu #marvel fanfiction #marvel #marvel smut #au #dahyun #a/b/o smut #avengers a/b/o #peter parker #michelle jones #peter parker x mj

462 notes · View notes